1. finance
2. bank
3. bank account

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
Selection of Trustee Bank
(A) Queries- received
Last date for receiving queries by 2:00 p.m. on 15th May, 2015
Organisation
HDFC Bank
Ltd.
Kotak Mahindra
Bank Ltd.
Name &
Designation
Anand Somiah,
VP
Shrivats Mishra,
AVP
Ajay Kaistha, VP
Contact
no.
Date of
receiving
Time of
receiving
In specified
format(
Y/N)
No. of
queries
Received in which
form
Y
9313003124
15.5.2015
10:47 a.m.
Y
14
Hard
Copy
Y
Soft
Copy
8860281402
15.5.2015
11:01 a.m.
Y
5
N
Y
9899299540
15.5.2015
13:47 p.m.
Y
6
Y
Y
Axis Bank Ltd
Page 1 of 13
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
Selection of Trustee Bank – 2015
Response to Queries- Pre-bid meeting by 11:00 hrs on 25th May, 2015
Sr.
No.
RFP Document Content
of
Reference
clarification
(Number/Page)
RFP
requiring Points of Clarification required
Response by PFRDA
I)
HDFC Bank Ltd
1.
1.1.7, Page No 9
2.
1.1.7.1.7,
No 9
Trustee bank will facilitate fund
transfers across various entities of
CRA(s) system viz. Nodal Offices,
POPs, Aggregators, PFs, Annuity
Service Providers and subscribers etc.
Will trustee bank be required to
open the current accounts of all
various entities of CRA(s) system
(Nodal
Offices,
POPs,
Aggregators, PFs, Annuity Service
Providers and subscribers, Pension
Fund Managers, etc.) for doing
internal fund transfer
NPS Trustee Bank is supposed to
open:1) Individual collection accounts
sector wise/ state wise on the behalf of
NPS Trust and;
2) Accounts for all PFMs appointed
by PFRDA, scheme wise.
3) PFRDA/ NPS Trust may open any
other account as per the future
requirement.
4) The decision to open accounts of
other entities lies with the concerned
entities.
Page The NPS Trustee bank shall provide Please elaborate. Please share The web based access is required to
web based access to NPS trust, technical / IT infrastructure setup view the transaction details of the
PFRDA, CRA(s) and other service and process details of existing accounts maintained by Trustee Bank.
providers
Trustee Bank –Axis Bank.
This would be in line with the view
facility provided by the banks to their
account holders.
Page 2 of 13
3.
4
1.1.7.1.8,
No 9 & 10
1.1.7.1.9,
No 10
Page The Bank shall file the following
Periodic reports with PFRDA/NPS
Trust–
a) Extracts of Internal audit report
from independent auditors with
respect to the NPS Trust Accounts,
compliance
certificates
and
subscriber complaints reports at
regular intervals.
b) Concurrent audit report to be
submitted every quarter.
c) External audit report of all the NPS
accounts maintained with the Trustee
Bank to be submitted annually.
The scope of all the above three
audits shall be defined by PFRDA.
The Authority and the NPS Trust
may, if it considers necessary at any
time, undertake directly or through its
authorized representative or auditor,
an inspection and audit of Trustee
Bank.
The audit fees and all other incidental
expenses shall be borne by the
Trustee Bank.
Page The ownership rights and all other
rights relating to ownership of all the
record/records data, statistical returns
and information whether in electronic
form, or physical form or in any other
form obtained collected and/or
Clarification required on Scope of
Audit,
Reporting
Formats,
Frequency and Fee, if any that
would be charged by PFRDA
1) The reports of the internal and
concurrent audits related to NPS Trust
accounts shall be submitted quarterly.
Whereas the external/ statutory audit
shall be submitted annually. The
Trustee Bank need to get audit
certificate from their auditors with
respect to NPS Trust accounts as per
the format to be prescribed by
PFRDA/ NPS Trust. The format shall
be in line with the roles and
responsibilities of Trustee Bank as per
PFRDA (Trustee Bank) Regulations
and the terms of the RFP.
2) As per regulation 24 & 25 of the
PFRDA (Trustee Bank) Regulations,
2015, the Authority/ NPS Trust shall
be entitled to recover from the Trustee
Bank such expenses incurred by it for
the purposes of inspection or audit
undertaken directly or through its
authorized representative or auditor
under sub-regulation (1) of regulation
20
Bank has to sign any NDA, please
confirm. If yes kindly share the
format / or bank can share their
own formats.
Yes, the successful bidder may have to
enter into an agreement with NPS
Trust. The format shall be devised as
per the terms of the PFRDA (Trustee
Bank) Regulations and the RFP.
Page 3 of 13
5
required to be maintained by NPS
Trustee Bank shall vest in PFRDA.
No person/entity other than PFRDA
shall have any ownership rights or
any other rights over any data or
information in the possession of the
NPS Trustee Bank. NPS Trustee
Bank or any other appointed agency
or person shall neither have any right
over such records/data/information
nor use it at any stage for commercial
purpose(s). The NPS Trustee Bank
will not, without the prior permission
of PFRDA, produce / share such data
or information as evidence or for any
other purpose except as required by
the due process of law. It shall be the
responsibility and duty of the NPS
Trustee Bank to maintain absolute
confidentiality
of
such
records/data/information
and
to
produce these as and when called for
by PFRDA/NPS Trust.
1.1.7.1.13, Page Provide periodic reports as per the
No 10 & 11
parameters and frequency defined by
the Authority or the National Pension
System Trust. Some of the key
parameters on which reports are
required includes:
a) account wise balances on daily
basis;
b) fund transfer and receipt status on
Can bank share all the required
reports in their own formats or
PFRDA wants the same in their
own formats. Kindly confirm, if
yes please share the formats which
is in existing practice with existing
trustee bank along with any
improvements suggested.
PFRDA/ NPS Trust have prescribed
some formats for MIS. This is in line
with the roles and responsibilities of
Trustee Bank as per PFRDA (Trustee
Bank) Regulations and the RFP. The
formats are subject to change as per
the requirement of NPS Trust and
PFRDA. The MIS prescribed as of
now includes account statements,
Page 4 of 13
6
7
daily basis;
c) report on status of identified and
unidentified funds in NPS account;
d) Sector wise unmatched amount
return report – weekly, monthly or as
specified by the Authority.
1.1.7.2, Page No. Linkages of NPS Trustee Bank with Kindly share all the report formats
11 & 12.
CRA(s)
which bank has to give under this
section and also kindly confirm if
bank has to do any server to server
integration with CRAs for these
MIS flows. If yes please share the
technical
documents
for
integration
2.3.C, Page No. Envelope III: Commercial Proposal, To submit the commercial
13 and 5.10.2 in a sealed cover super scribing on proposal and also for bank’s
Page No 25
the right hand side top of the cover as internal
calculations
kindly
"Commercial Proposal"
provide
the
following
information:5.10.2 Commercial Evaluation
a) Volume & Value Figures
(Collection & Payments both
separately): Average no of
transactions & amount in a
month / annum, along with
breakup in physical
&
electronic.
b) Total no of accounts needs to
be open.
c) Type of accounts including
accounts of PFM. Please
confirm all accounts will be
current accounts.
daily balance, weekly/ monthly
average balance, details of rejection
and return, the details of fund transfer
to PFMs, etc.
Yes, the Trustee Bank will have to
establish technical compatibility with
CRA system/ platform.
a) For the month of April, 2015
Consolidated Collections:Mode
Electronic
Cheque
No.
of Amt (Rs.)
Tran.
(Cr)
13761
1808.33
121
72.64
Payments:Mode
Electronic
Cheque
No.
Tran.
1132
-
of Amt (Rs.)
(Cr)
20.45
-
b) Currently, there are 38 collection
accounts, but the no. of accounts may
Page 5 of 13
d) Historical average balance
maintained into the different
accounts
e) On which accounts the average
daily balance to be calculated.
f) Please provide Example for
calculation of average daily
balance. Please clarify if it is
average daily balance or end of
day clear balance.
g) Will PFRDA raise invoice
every year for annual payment.
change as per the requirement of
PFRDA/ NPS Trust.
c) All collection accounts will be
current accounts. Accounts for PFMs
will be as per the instructions of PFMs
and NPS Trust.
d) For the month of March and April,
2015, the consolidated average daily
balance of all collection accounts was
Rs. 361.04 Cr. The average daily
balance pertains to 2 days collection
as the present timeline for transfer of
funds to PFM is T+2 days. However,
it is proposed to be reduced to T+1
days.
e) Daily average balance will be
calculated on all collection accounts.
f) It is daily average balance. The
daily average balance would be
calculated based on the period for
which the daily average will be
calculated. For ex. for the FY 15-16,
we have to calculate the daily average
balance so for that sum total of all the
collection accounts at end of day for
each date of the complete FY will be
divided by 365 days.
Page 6 of 13
g) This may be decided at a later
stage. The fee is to be paid annually as
per the PFRDA (Trustee Bank)
regulation.
8
3.1.E, Page No. Commitment of the applicant to
16
establish technological compatibility
with the CRA(s) if selected as the
NPS Trustee Bank including allowing
a
unique
transaction
identity
generated by the CRA(s) for every
transaction to be validly recognizable
throughout the complete transaction
trail.
9
5, Page No. 17
10
5.11.1.1.3,
No. 27
APPOINTMENT CONDITIONS
FOR NPS TRUSTEE BANK: - On
selection of the applicant, a certificate
of registration will be issued to it by
the Authority. The successful bidder
needs to sign a Service level
agreement with NPS Trust containing
terms and conditions of the selection.
Page NPS Trustee Bank should be able to
provide service to all the Nodal
Offices/POP/Aggregators/ASP etc.
through its branches.
Please elaborate. Need clarity on
Unique Transaction Identity and
also on integration requirements
with CRA(s).
TB needs to check that 26 characters
are filled in 7495 field of RTGS and
7002 field of NEFT
PAOFIN- 6
PAO Id- 7
Tran Id- 13
Total =26 characters. In case, it is not
present funds should be returned back
to the source account.
For better clarification, CRA is
requested to make a presentation.
Share the format of Service level Format would be devised based on the
Agreement (SLA).
roles and responsibilities of Trustee
Bank as per the PFRDA (Trustee
Bank) Regulations and the terms of
the RFP.
Kindly share the list of source List of source locations of Nodal
locations of all the Nodal Offices shall be shared with the
Offices/POP/Aggregators/ASP etc. successful bidder.
for location mapping with
branches.
Also
share
the
anticipated volumes at each
location for capacity planning of
Page 7 of 13
systems and infrastructure.
11
12
13
5.10.3 Page 25 Track record of handling Govt. a) Please help provide format of
and 3.1( C) of business. To be provided in format
Chart A2.
Page 16
A2
b) Please inform if any certificate
needs
to
be
provided
confirming authorisation of
Govt. Business on behalf of
Ministry or Department of
Central & State.
c) Please confirm collection of
Sales tax and Central Direct
and Indirect taxes qualifies this
authorisation.
5.11.1.1.4, Page Adequate training should be arranged Any class room training to be
No. 27
and provided to the employees of required. If yes please share the
branches accepting contribution training documents.
amount
from
the
Nodal
Offices/POP/Aggregators etc.
5.11.1.1.6,
No. 27
Page NPS Trustee Bank should form an Need a detailed discussion on it.
NPS Cell for NPS related activity.
The Cell should comprise of at least
two compliance officers (main
compliance
officer,
alternate
compliance officer) and other team
a) Refer format A.
b) Yes, any documentary proof may
be required.
c) It may be considered.
It may be decided by the successful
bidder, how to train its staff for the
functioning of Trustee Bank. If the
successful bidder wishes to impart any
class room training then a training
module may be developed by the
Trustee Bank. Assistance required, if
any, may be extended by CRA and
Authority.
May be discussed during Pre- bid
meeting.
Page 8 of 13
members comprising of three
dedicated officers for reconciliation
activity, one dedicated officer for
Central Government, two shared
resources for system and IT
operations and Nodal Officers for
twenty eight States and seven Union
Territories. The qualification for the
compliance officer and alternate
compliance officer should be
CA/ICWA/MBA (Finance). The
qualification for the system and IT
officers should be MCA/B Tech- IT/
Computer science and CISA.
14
5.11.2, Page No. Trustee Bank Business Activities Require all the report formats CRA’s presentation to be arranged
28
which will be generated /
(Points 1 to 18)
downloaded from the CRA system
and also bank has to upload in
CRA system for the activities
described in this section. Bank
needs the SOP from CRA along
with the technical documents for
establishing
technological
compatibility with CRA System.
Also please arrange to show the
live demo of the CRA system to
understand better. It will help bank
to understand the complete
transaction flow.
Page 9 of 13
II)
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd
1
1.1.7.1-11 Page- NPS Trustee Bank shall not utilize
No 10
the services of the sponsor or any of
its associates, employees or their
relatives, for the purpose of any of its
duties and obligations. Provided that
NPS Trustee Bank may utilize such
services if disclosure to that effect is
made to NPS Trust.
This clause should not preclude a
bank which by itself or through its
subsidiary is a POP or Fund
Manager under the NPS scheme.
2
2.9 Step 9: Page 2.9 Step 9 : Determination of Evaluation method for determining
No 15
Successful Bidders
the commercial score. How
denominator is is always 2 and if a
person quotes 3%, then the score
will exceed the maximum score of
30. Please elaborate on the
parameters
3
4 (1) Page No 17
Application fee- The entities desirous Is the amount refundable or will be
of obtaining certificate of registration adjusted in registration fees later
shall be required to submit
applications along with a non –
refundable application fee of rupees
10,00,000/- (ten lakh) to the
Authority in the form of bank draft/
bankers’ cheque in favour of Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority at New Delhi.
The clause states that the Trustee
Bank will not utilise the services of
employees of the sponsors or any of
its associates or their relatives refer to.
The Bank may utilise such services if
disclosure to that effect is made to the
National Pension System Trust. Refer
PFRDA (Trustee Bank) Regulation 16
(10).
Denominator taken is the highest
commercial bid received. For clarity
in example, suppose:If a person quotes 5% (which is the
highest bid received), then his
commercial score will be 5/5*30=30.
Thus, the commercial score will never
exceed the maximum score of 30.
Next highest bid quoted is 4%, then
his score will be 4/5*30= 24.
The application fee is non-refundable.
It will not be adjusted in registration
fees that need to be paid later at the
time
of
granting
registration
certificate. Refer regulation 3 (5)
Page 10 of 13
4
5.9 Annexure IV Annual fee/ charges to be paid to
(A) Page 23
PFRDA by NPS Trustee Bank as
percentage per annum on daily
average balance
5
5.11.2 .18 Page Core activities of the TB
29
How will Bank arrive at the %
figure without the historical
collection figures. PFRDA needs
to provide the figures for effective
calculation and Cost Benefit
Analysis
Will PFRDA shall provide
allowance for difference in holiday
calendars among different states
viz., Pooja holidays in West
Bengal, Pongal holiday in Tamil
Nadu, Diwali holidays in western
India, etc.
For information the figures has
already been given in point (I) (7)
PFRDA will give such allowance.
Bidder bank will be allowed only
National holidays and holidays as
declared by RBI for Maharashtra state.
III)
Axis Bank Ltd.
1
2
3
Point no. 1.1.7.1 Roles and Responsibility of NPS The Web Access to NPS trustee
Page No. 9, Sl. Trustee Bank
Bank can be provided, however
No. 7
NPS trust should authorize the
officials who will have access to
various accounts under NPS Trust.
1.1.7.1 Page No. Roles and Responsibility of NPS What shall be the periodicity of
10, Sl. No. 8 (a)
Trustee Bank
Internal Audit which needs to be
conducted at regular intervals.
1.1.7.1 Page No. Roles and Responsibility of NPS What does Sponsor or any of its
10, Sl. No. 11
Trustee Bank
associates, employees or their
relatives refers to. Clarification
about clause that “NPS Trustee
Bank should not utilise services of
employees for the purpose of any
its duties and obligation.” We will
The required instructions would be
provided.
Please refer regulation 19 and point (I)
(3) (1)
The definition of the sponsors,
associates would be as per the
Companies Act. The clause means that
the Trustee Banks hall not utilise the
services of employees of their
associates/ sponsors. But it may be
permissible if the Bank provides
Page 11 of 13
have to use services of our
employees for carrying out day to
day activities.
Appointment Conditions for NPS If PFRDA appoints more than one
Trustee Bank
trustee bank in future whether the
existing Trustee Bank will be
allowed to revise the annual
fee/Charges in percentage per
annum and what will be the
distribution of collection in case of
appointment of Multiple Trustee
Banks.
4
5.1 Page No. 17
5
5.11.1.1 Page 27 Operational requirements for NPS The nodal branch should have list
Sl.No. 2
Trustee Bank
of all collecting branches. – As per
circular issued by PFRDA in
January 2014, all nodal offices
pertaining Central Govt. and State
Govts. are required to remit NPS
contribution
only
through
electronic mode. Other entities
may submit the contribution
through Cheque/DD. Whether the
NPS contributions from nodal
office pertaining Central Govt. &
State Govts. will be collected
through Physical Mode ie.
disclosure. Refer PFRDA (Trustee
Bank) Regulation 16 (10).
1) Trustee Bank once selected on the
basis of commercial bid quoted will
not be allowed to revise the same. It
will have to pay annual fee as per the
collection made.
2) The annual fees shall be charged on
the average daily balance available
with the Trustee Bank. Though it may
not be feasible to comment on this
query as it will be as per the future
policy. However, in case, the
collection of amount gets divided
between multiple Trustee Banks, the
annual fees payable by Trustee Bank
would accordingly get reduced.
Govt. offices shall be encouraged to
submit
NPS
contributions
electronically.
Currently,
the
percentage of physical instruments is
approx. 0.87% of the total collection
which we expect to further go down.
Trustee Bank shall assist Nodal offices
to shift from making contributions
from physical mode to electronic
mode, if required.
Page 12 of 13
6
Point no. 4, Page Payment Schedule
17
IV)
.
Cheques/Demand Drafts etc.
Application Fee of Rs. 10 Lakh to
be submitted along with Bid
Application. Query – Axis Bank is
exiting trustee bank. As per the
Trustee Bank Regulation 2015
(Clause no. 3 (2) notified by
PFRDA, existing trustee bank is
required to make application
within a span of 90 days for the
notification. Hence clarification is
required whether Axis Bank is
required to pay application Fee
only once along with Bid or also
while making application as per
the regulation.
These two are separate issues.
Application fee shall be payable by
the existing Trustee Bank as specified
in the Trustee Bank regulation and as
specified in the RFP for selection of
Trustee Bank.
Clarifications
Table 5.13, pg 32 Evaluation criteria
Annexure VIII:
It may be mentioned that in the point
A-4 (total no. of branches)inadvertently in place of sign of
greater than 5000 branches, sign of
less than 5000 branches was
incorporated. The same stands
corrected here.
Page 13 of 13