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Central provident fund plans token number for investors

India's apex pension fund body will assign unique token numbers to investors, a move it hopes will ease the process of making investments in pension funds when the industry is opened up to private participation.

The process is expected to begin in about two months but could take a while to complete, Ajai Singh, central provident fund commissioner, told an industry seminar on Friday.

"This is something that we have envisaged to address as various problems come up when a person changes job and has to have his fund transferred from one account to another," Singh said.

"Each account holder will be assigned a unique number, which will be applicable irrespective of where he works and which fund manager he opts for," Singh said.

He said the token number would be carried on a card which would hold personal details.

Eventually, the number could evolve on the lines of the social security number which is in use in the United States as India's own social security system developed.

India is considering reforming its pension sector. Among the moves being considered are the opening up of the state-run sector to private investment.

India's current pension system is completely state-run. It has a total of Rs 904.04 billion under management, with eight schemes covering about 30 million people -- in a nation of more than a billion.

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