Public Provident Fund (PPF) is considered as most important and safe amongst all tax saving investments schemes. This scheme is falls under the EEE category i.e. Exempt, Exempt and Exempt which means if you invest in it, you will get a deduction u/s 80C on your income. Further, the interest you earn on it alongwith its maturity proceeds will be tax-free in the hand of investor.
While dealing in Public Provident Fund, investors having various doubts therefore in this article I am discussing some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) related to PPF. Such as whether more than one account is allowed under PPF or not? Eligibility criteria for PPF account, information related to deposit criteria and interest earning on PPF account balance, loan facility, etc
Page Contents
- Frequently Asked Questions related to Public Provident Fund (PPF) are as under:
- 1. Can I maintain more than Public Provident Fund (PPF) account under my name?
- 2. What is the eligibility for investing under Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme, 1968?
- 3. What is the minimum and maximum amount that can be invested under the Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme, 1968, in a financial year?
- 4. What happens if I fail to deposit any amount in one or more Financial Years?
- 5. What is the Interest earned in Public Provident Fund (PPF) account?
- 6. When does a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account mature?
- 7. Can I extend the tenure of a Public Provident Fund (PPF) investment beyond the Maturity Period?
- 8. Can I terminate or closed the Public Provident Fund (PPF) account before before maturity?
- 9. Can I withdraw funds from my Public Provident Fund (PPF) Account?
- 10. Can I avail of Loan facility on my Public Provident Fund (PPF) investment?
- 11. What is the process for transferring my existing Public Provident Fund (PPF) account maintained with another bank/post office to Bank of Your Choice?
- 12. Role of another Bank Branch in case of Public Provident Fund (PPF):
1. Can I maintain more than Public Provident Fund (PPF) account under my name?
Only one PPF account can be maintained by an Individual, except an account that is opened on behalf of a minor.
2. What is the eligibility for investing under Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme, 1968?
A Public Provident Fund (PPF) account can be opened by resident Indian Individuals and individuals on behalf of minors or a person of unsound mind..
Only one Public Provident Fund (PPF) account can be maintained by an Individual, except an account that is opened on behalf of a minor.
A Public Provident Fund (PPF) account can be opened either by the Mother or Father on behalf of their minor Son or Daughter; however the Mother and Father both cannot open Public Provident Fund (PPF) accounts on behalf of the same minor.
Grand-parents cannot open a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account on behalf of minor grand-child; however, in case of death of both the Father and Mother, Grand-parents can open a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account as guardians of the Grand-child.
3. What is the minimum and maximum amount that can be invested under the Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme, 1968, in a financial year?
The minimum deposit amount is Rs. 500 per annum and the upper ceiling limit is Rs. 1,50,000 per annum.
4. What happens if I fail to deposit any amount in one or more Financial Years?
A penalty of Rs. 50 will be levied per year of default, if the customer doesn’t deposit the minimum deposit amount of Rs. 500 on the completion of the financial year.
5. What is the Interest earned in Public Provident Fund (PPF) account?
The current rate of interest on Public Provident Fund (PPF) is 7.9%, which is compounded annually .
6. When does a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account mature?
A Public Provident Fund (PPF) account gets matured after the completion of 15 years from the end of the year in which the account was opened.
7. Can I extend the tenure of a Public Provident Fund (PPF) investment beyond the Maturity Period?
A customer can extend the tenure of a Public Provident Fund (PPF) investment for a block period of 5 years beyond the maturity period by submitting Form 4 within one year from the date of maturity.
8. Can I terminate or closed the Public Provident Fund (PPF) account before before maturity?
No premature withdrawal is allowed for Public Provident Fund (PPF) accounts. Only in the case of the death of a customer, their nominee /legal heir can close the account by submitting the required documents as guided by the Ministry of Finance.
9. Can I withdraw funds from my Public Provident Fund (PPF) Account?
Customer can make one withdrawal every year, from the 7th financial year, of an amount that does not exceed 50% of the balance of the customer credit at the end of the fourth year immediately preceding the year of withdrawal or the amount at the end of the preceding year, whichever is lower.
Facility of partial withdrawal under PPF Scheme shall be available to the account extended, subject to the condition that the total withdrawal during the block period of five years shall not exceed sixty per cent. of the balance at credit at the commencement of the block period.
Please note that the withdrawal, subject to the ceiling as specified above may be made either in a single or in yearly instalments.
10. Can I avail of Loan facility on my Public Provident Fund (PPF) investment?
Customers can avail the loan after completion of 2 year from the date of Initial subscription but before expiry of 5 years. Application must be file in Form 2 to the accounts office and for the amount which is less than or equal to 25% of total amount of credit balance in your account at the end of 2nd year immediately preceding the year in which the loan is applied for.
11. What is the process for transferring my existing Public Provident Fund (PPF) account maintained with another bank/post office to Bank of Your Choice?
As per the PPF scheme of the Government, subscribers can transfer their PPF account from one authorised bank or Post office to another. In such a case, the PPF account will be considered as a continuing account. To enable customers to transfer their existing PPF accounts to Bank of your choice, the following process must be followed.
The customer approaches the bank or the Post office where his current PPF account is held and makes an application for transfer of PPF account to another Bank’s branch.
Once the application is processed, the existing bank/Post office arrange to send the original documents such as a certified copy of the account, the account opening application, nomination form, specimen signature etc. to another Bank branch address provided by the customer, along with a cheque/DD for the outstanding balance in the PPF account.
12. Role of another Bank Branch in case of Public Provident Fund (PPF):
Once transfer in documents are received at another Bank branch, customers are required to submit fresh PPF account opening form and Nomination form, along with their original passbook . Also customer is required to submit a fresh set of KYC documents.
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Inadvertently I have opened my PPF a/c at Post office on june-2020 with initial deposit of Rs: 1 lakh and later Rs:1000/- on 2021.initially I have one PPF a/c in SBI since 2017.As per PPF rule the interest will not credit and also no tax benefit will be given against deposit of my second PPF a/c, which is by default deactive.Now I would like to know the procedure to close my second deactivate PPF a/c at Post office.
Please suggest me the procedure to follow for close the second PPF A/C and withdraw the deposited amount.
After the 20 years old PPF account transfer from one bank to another, does the no withdrawal time period clause of 5 years apply or the period of 20 years with the previous bank is considered for partial withdrawal with immediate effect ? Also, does the PPF account considered as ‘account in continuation’ for the interest calculations?
I have a PPF account. After 15 years when it matures, I would withdraw all the maturity amount and close the account. But, after closing the account, if I realise that I did a mistake and unnecessarily closed the account, can I restart another PPF account?
Sir,
I opened my PPF account in PO Civil Lines Delhi in 1995 and transferred it to Sansad Marg PO New Delhi in 2009. Now, having moved to Dehradun from Delhi, on my request, Sansad Marg PO has transferred all PPF documents to Punjab National Bank Dehradun. The passbook of Sansad Marg PO starts from 2009. The PNB Dehradun is demanding passbook for the period 1995-2008 which Sansad Marg PO says is not available. PNB is now sitting on it.
What would be the solution and what action I can take
Thanks for guidance
Whom I should contact if less interest credited after transfer of PPF account from one bank branch to other
I had similar issue. Interest is not calculated after transferring account from one Bank to another Bank.
I want to know about PPF. previous deposit amount will consider for current year interest CALCULATION ?
For example if I deposit 1.5 lakh previous year and deposit 50k in current year. So calculation will be done 2 lakh ?
sir, i have transferred my PPF ac from PNB to HDFC, on 15/12/20, amount transferred is the amount balance as on date 1/4/2020.
Have i lost my Interest for the FY 2020-21 ?
I have open PPF account Jan 2021 with Monthly Rs.2000 i have paid Jan and Feb 2k,2k But March Month my brother paid 5k
So for April month it will be adjust or i need to pay may i know that
I HAVE ONE PPF A/C ABOVE 20 YEARS OLD IN HUF STATUS IN POST OFFICE . I WANT TO PPF A/C TRANSFERD IN UNION BANK OR HDFC BANK CAN I DO IT .
Can I reactivate my ppf account during extension period ?
I had closed a PPF account on maturity 10 years back. Can I open a fresh one now – this will be my only functional Account. Please guide me ASAP
My PPF account become matured (15 years completed), Now i decided to close the account, will I get interest up to August?
Lost my mother last yr and she left a PPF account with me and my dad’s nomination. When We both went to the base branch in Amritsar, was told only my nomination, but later when we reached home in Mohali, we are told in Nov 2019 that dad has 50%. I requested that he is 84 yrs old if he may submit form G at Mohali from branch of same bank ( SBI) where he already has an account but they are insisting he has to visit SBI Amritsar again to give his form at base branch only. I feel bad that already a yr has passed ( it’s aug 2020) and my now frail and old father cd not get benefit of what my mothet left behind for him in his old age. WHY THIS OCTAGERIAN ( an ex army offr) cannot visit his SBI branch here at Mohali where he lives and SBI Mohali cannot verify with SBI Amritsar and submit cheque to his account.? We shd not forget that all of us will get old one day and savings are done for this stage. My parents had to shuffle between Amritsar and Mohali to take care of their ageing parents plus my father was in Army and was posted at Amritsar when Account was opened. Govt really shd streamline ease of remittance in today’s corona filled digital world!
If I want to do a NEFT transfer from ICICI to SBI PPF account, then what should I select under Type of Account [ for PPF] , Savings , Current or Cash Credit ??
Can husband & wife seperatly maintain individual PPF accounts
From the month of December 2019, department of posts has silently imposing a fee of ₹100+gst for transferring ppf accounts from one post office to another. Since long, say more than sixty years, nothing is charged as fee for transfer of sb accounts of any type in spite of lot of manuel work and sending related documents to and fro. Of course, except transferring the details of the accounts electronically, nothing is done, even the account number remains unchanged. It is nothing but a blow on the real savings bank account holder which is absurd and needs reconciliation. All account holders reaction for this solicited…
My Request To Government , Concerned
Ministries / Departments To Consider Very
Sympahetically , And Allow Closing Of The
PPF Account And Withdraw The Entire Balance In The PPF Account Including Te Interest Due , Atleast In Te Case Of Very
Senior Citizens of 80 Years And Above ;
for various personal reasons ; increasing cost
of living day-by-day , increased medical
expenses , unable to move out of the house
with one problem or the other .
Dear Sir,
Does PPF Rules Define The Meaning of word RESIDENT INDIAN or this definition is derived from Income Tax?
Nowadays, many IT Professionals, working on H1B Visa in the USA are facing this problem because as per IT act their status has changed midway through the 15 year lockin period. I believe the Government should take up this issue and allow all INDIAN CITIZENS to have an Active / Running PPF Account and allow them to invest just like Resident Indians. By Doing this, All Indian Citizens will be benefitted and the government will get funds in its Treasury which can be used for good purposes. This is very much required because the situation has changed since the Framing of Rules for PPF account which was probably done more than 50 years ago. If this change is done, then there will be a very big relief to many Indian Citizens working abroad on a temporary basis.
Pankaj Jambusaria
(B.E, Mech. – M.Tech, IIT Bombay)
If an HUF contributes to the PPF account of one of the Minor member. Does the contribution (by HUF) get added to the parent’s PPF contribution, considering his/her PAN number is present in the Minor’s PPF account as guardian?