<h1>Government extends Unified Pension Scheme opt-in deadline to November 30, 2025 for employees, retirees and spouses</h1> The Finance Ministry extended the cut-off to November 30, 2025 for central government employees, past retirees and legally wedded spouses of deceased retirees to opt into the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) under the National Pension System, citing low take-up and stakeholder requests after recent UPS enhancements. The ministry asked the pension regulator to implement system and regulatory changes. UPS, operational from April 1, 2025, offers assured payouts and is contributory (employee 10% of basic pay plus DA; employer 18.5%). Roughly 31,555 employees had opted by July 20 and about 100,000 of 2.3 million employees by the prior deadline.