UPS vs NPS vs OPS which is better? Choose Right Pension Plan For Retirement

UPS vs NPS vs OPS which is better? Because for a long time, the government employees of the Center and the states have been pressuring the government to close the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and implement the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). To end this protest, the Integrated Pension Scheme (UPS) has been implemented by the Union Cabinet from 1 April 2025. After the UPS pension scheme came, economists and employees are engaged in knowing which pension plan is the best in UPS vs NPS vs OPS.

Which of UPS vs NPS vs OPS can be better? Before knowing this, one has to know about the advantages and disadvantages of UPS vs NPS vs OPS. Therefore, in this article, UPS, National Pension Scheme and Old Pension Scheme have been written so that you can know which of UPS vs NPS vs OPS is better. Therefore, read this post carefully.

Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)

Pension amount: Under UPS pension scheme, the employee gets 50% of his basic salary + dearness allowance as monthly pension on retirement.

Dearness Allowance: The monthly pension that the employee will get under UPS pension scheme will include the benefit of dearness allowance.

Family pension: On the death of the employee after retirement, 60% of the pension will be given as family pension benefit.

Contribution: To get pension under UPS pension scheme, 10% of the basic pay of the employee and 18.5% contribution from the government will have to be deposited.

Gratuity: Employees will get the benefit of gratuity on retirement.

National Pension Scheme (NPS)

Pension amount: The money in the employee’s NPS account is invested in the stock market. It is difficult to say how much pension the employee will get depending on the fluctuations in the stock market. Therefore, the pension in NPS is not fixed.

Dearness Allowance: Under the National Pension Scheme, the employee does not get the benefit of dearness allowance.

Family Pension: In the National Pension Scheme, family pension depends on the retirement pension amount.

Contribution: To get pension under NPS, the employee has to deposit 10% of his basic salary and 14% contribution by the government.

Gratuity: In the National Pension Scheme, there is no option for retirement gratuity and death gratuity for the employee.

Old Pension Scheme (OPS)

Pension Amount: Under the Old Pension Scheme, the employee gets 50% of his basic salary + dearness allowance as monthly pension on retirement.

Dearness Allowance: The employee gets pension along with dearness allowance (DA) and whenever the dearness allowance increases, the pension amount keeps increasing.

Family Pension: If the employee is in service, he gets a family pension till the age of retirement on the last pay draw and even after that. Even if the employee dies after retirement, his family continues to get pension benefits.

Contribution: Under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), no deduction is made in the salary of the employee to get pension. The government bears all the expenses of the pension.

Gratuity: Government employees get a maximum gratuity of up to ₹ 20 lakh on retirement, which depends on the service period of the employee.

UPS vs NPS vs OPS which is better?

If an employee gets the benefit of lifelong pension without paying anything and after his death the spouse gets family pension for life, then understand that that pension plan can be the best. All this is available in the Old Pension Scheme. Therefore, among UPS vs NPS vs OPS, OPS (Old Pension Scheme) is the best.