Government of Andhra Pradesh. offers CPS employees a one-time option to switch to the Old Pension System

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday issued detailed operational instructions for a uniform, transparent and time-bound implementation of the one-time option to be exercised by its employees for coverage under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

Employees whose recruitment notice or advertisement was issued before 1 September 2004 but were appointed on or after 1 September 2004 are currently covered by the CPS.

Employees, serving or pensioners and family pensioners have to submit their options as per the said instructions by 31st December 2026 as per GOMs.No.158 issued by Principal Secretary (Finance) Peeyush Kumar.

The order stated that the government introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) with effect from 1 September 2004 so that it will apply to all state government employees appointed on or after 1 September 2004 in line with the National Pension Scheme (NPS) of the Government of India (GoI) which applies to all central government employees from 1 January 2004.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Pensions and Pensioners of the Central Government issued office memorandums which extended the one-time option to employees whose recruitment was started before the introduction of NPS but the appointment was made after.

The state government adopted the Indonesian government’s policy and extended the one-time option to eligible employees with a proper statement that operational instructions for implementation would be issued later.

Accordingly, detailed instructions were issued on November 9.

Appointing authorities have been mandated to expeditiously process proposals and Heads of Offices have been mandated to maintain meticulous records to ensure transparency, accountability and timely settlement of pension benefits.

The Secretariat Department, Head of Department, Director of Treasury and Accounts have been directed to ensure strict adherence to these instructions.

Published – 9 Nov 2026 21:11 IST