How to open a PPF account

You want to open a PPF account or Pub­lic Prov­i­dent Fund account. But you keep post­pon­ing it as you are not sure about the pro­ce­dures in detail. It takes 45 min­utes to open a PPF account pro­vided that you have all the required doc­u­ments. Read PPF account – Do you have it?

Steps to open a PPF account

A PPF account can be opened with selected post offices and SBI branches. Visit your near­est and pop­u­lar post office or a SBI Bank ( prefer­ably a big­ger branch with more cus­tomers as some branches do not pro­vide the ser­vice of PPF account)

Fill the PPF appli­ca­tion form. Pro­vide 2 pass­port size pho­tographs and photocopy/xerox of an iden­tity proof ( Pass­port, Pan Card, Dri­ving License, Voter ID, Ration Card). A wit­ness sig­na­ture is required in the PPF appli­ca­tion form. Men­tion your nom­i­nee details on the PPF appli­ca­tion form.

You will be issued a PPF pass­book ( This is sim­i­lar to any sav­ings bank account pass book).

Open a PPF account — Impor­tant Points to remember

Inter­est is cal­cu­lated on 5th of every month, so Sub­scrip­tions must be made before the 5th of every month to take advan­tage of the inter­est com­po­nent for the par­tic­u­lar month.

You can invest a max­i­mum amount of Rs 70,000 in PPF account. Tax ben­e­fit under Sec 80 C is lim­ited to Rs 70,000 per annum for invest­ment in PPF account.

PPF account is con­sid­ered to be a retire­ment sav­ings instru­ment. It is advis­able for you to open a PPF account.

Return on PPF is fixed by the Gov­ern­ment of India on a yearly basis.

Related posts:

1. Open a SBI NRI Account Online
2. Open a demat account
3. PPF account – Do you have it?
4. Open an Online Trad­ing Account
5. How to get a Per­ma­nent Account Num­ber (PAN)