With the Public Provident Fund, recently re-launched as
Ponmagan Podhuvaippu Nidhi, gaining more patronage, the postal
department has relaxed a few norms for the savings scheme.
Soon,
customers have the option of closing the deposit scheme after
completing five years for reasons such as children’s higher education or
expenditure towards medical treatment.
In the last
six months alone, nearly 20,000 PPF accounts have been opened in Chennai
city region. The scheme has nearly 1.21 lakh depositors so far in the
region.
Earlier, the depositor could take loans and
partially withdraw in the seventh year of the scheme. Now, premature
closure of the deposit is allowed. Officials of the postal department
said the scheme, which does not involve any age limit, can also be
opened in the name of children through their guardians. Depositors could
save from Rs.500 to Rs.1.5 lakh in a year for which an interest of 8.7
per cent is provided.
However, the Tamil Nadu circle
has only 1.78 lakh PPF accounts of which a major chunk has been opened
in the Chennai region. Sources said the long-term savings scheme had not
reached the rural and suburban areas. Though the Union government has
decided to recalibrate interest rate of s
