Section 11(2) in Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (National Pension System Trust) Regulations, 2015
(2)Without prejudice to the generality of powers and functions of the Board of Trustees to manage and administer the National Pension System Trust, the Board of Trustees shall have the following powers to-(i)accept any grants, contribution in cash or kind from any person or association of persons, institutions or trust (including the Central Government, State Government, commercial banks, financial institutions, bilateral or multilateral organisations, autonomous organizations, statutory bodies or other like entities) for the furtherance of the objectives of the National Pension System Trust:Provided that where the grantor is other than the Central Government or the State Government, no grants shall be accepted from such grantor without the previous approval of the Authority;(ii)borrow from any person, commercial banks, financial institutions, bilateral or multilateral donors, autonomous organizations, statutory bodies, institution or Government or other like bodies, any loans, without encumbering any of the assets of the National Pension System Trust in any manner, and subject to the notifications, circulars or, any directions or guidelines issued, by the Authority in this behalf;(iii)arrange for or authorize for signing or execution of any agreement, contract, instrument, documents or any other paper required to be signed or executed, on behalf of the trust or Board of Trustees, by the Chief Executive Officer along with any one of the trustees to be nominated in this behalf by the Board of Trustees or in the absence of the Chief Executive Officer by any two trustees to be nominated by the Board of Trustees in this behalf and make the same effective and binding as if the said agreement, contract, instrument or documents or papers were signed by all the trustees;(iv)appoint or make provisions for appointment of sub-committee of trustees or others to attend to or supervise or conduct specific objectives, scheme or schemes or functions in such manner and subject to such conditions as the Board of Trustees may specify;(v)authorize one or more trustees of the Board of Trustees to hold any asset or any fund or any investment of the National Pension System Trust subject to the terms of these regulations and also subject to such manners, terms and conditions as the Board of Trustees may specify from time to time:Provided that the beneficial interest shall always vest with the beneficiaries of the National Pension System Trust;(vi)appoint officers and other staff for implementation or administration of the functions of the trust, and to determine their pay and allowances and other terms and conditions of service, with the prior approval of the Authority;(vii)engage lawyers, solicitors, chartered accountants, consultants, advisors or any other professional to protect the properties of the National Pension System Trust and safeguard the interests of the National Pension System Trust and its beneficiaries;(viii)incur expenditure on publicity, dissemination, meetings, seminars, visits, study, consultation or on other similar activities in furtherance of the scheme or schemes of the National Pension System Trust to meet its objectives, within the budgetary provisions approved by the Authority;(ix)join, co-operate, amalgamate, any other trust having allied or related objectives with the National Pension System Trust, with prior approval of the Authority;(x)monitor the activities of, and issue instructions to, the custodian not to assign, transfer, hypothecate, pledge, lend or otherwise dispose of any assets or property of the National Pension System Trust;(xi)monitor and audit, the operational activities of and call for any information or reports from all intermediaries and issue instructions for protecting the interests of the beneficiaries;(xii)appoint a panel of auditors to undertake scheme audits of each pension fund. The Board of Trustees shall also obtain internal audit reports at regular intervals from the auditors appointed by the intermediaries under National Pension System. The reports of the auditor appointed by the Board of Trustee and internal audit reports or compliance reports of the intermediaries shall be considered at the meetings of the Board of Trustees for appropriate action;(xiii)obtain compliance certificates at regular intervals from the pension funds, points of presence, Aggregators, Trustee Bank, custodians, central recordkeeping agencies and other intermediaries in the formats and within the period or periods specified by the Authority and submit exception report to the Authority;(xiv)institute, conduct, compound or withdraw any legal proceedings for or on behalf of or in the name of the National Pension System Trust or the trustees, and to defend, compound or otherwise deal with any such proceedings against the National Pension System Trust or trustees or any of the officers of the National Pension System Trust or concerning the affairs of the National Pension System Trust; also to compound and allow time for payment or satisfaction of any debts due and to any claims or demand by or against the National Pension System Trust and to refer any differences to arbitration and observe and perform any awards thereof. For this purpose the trustees acting together may confer the authorization on any of the trustees or the Chief Executive Officer of the trust, as the case may be;(xv)make and give receipts, release and other discharges for moneys payable to the National Pension System Trust and for the claims and demands of the National Pension System Trust;(xvi)pay for all costs, charges and expenses, incidental to the administration of the National Pension System Trust and the management and maintenance of the National Pension System Trust property; the custodian's fees, management fees and any other fees unless specified otherwise by the Authority ;(xvii)approve payment of fees or charges to the intermediaries, as may be decided by the Authority from time to time;(xviii)arrange for, after approval from the Authority, a suitable indemnity policy for the trustees from an Indian Insurance Company to provide indemnity to trustees for their bona fide actions carried out in good faith. The National Pension System Trust may provide for legal and other assistance to the trustees or its officers in case of any disputes or legal proceedings arising out of their bonafide actions, taken while acting as trustees;(xix)do all such other things as may be considered necessary or incidental to the management of the National Pension System Trust for furtherance of its objectives.
