Public Provident Fund or PPF, one of the most popular government-backed small savings schemes helps employees to secure their future wealth by just investing a small portion of their salary every month. Benefits of PPF include high returns, an accumulated pool of funds at the age of retirement, and tax savings under the Income Tax Law. The National Saving Institute of the Finance Ministry of India introduced the PPF scheme in 1968.
Interest Rate on Public Provident Fund or PPF
The interest rate on PPF is fixed by the Government every quarter. So at the beginning of every three months, the government decides what it will offer on PPF accounts to the investors.
“The PPF investment comes with a lock-in period of 15 years, from the day of opening the account. With each passing year, this lock-in period progressively comes down. So, if you open a PPF account in April 2023, it will mature in March 2038.”
“After your PPF account matures, you can withdraw the entire corpus or leave the amount by extending the term for as long as you feel feasible, but that can be extended in blocks of 5 years. And suppose, if you do not withdraw your money from your PPF account once it is matured after 15 years, the account will be extended by default. Your PPF corpus will continue to attract interest on extension as fixed by the government,” mentioned times now.
Also read:
Is Income Generated Through FDs Taxable in India?
What Option Do You Have After the Maturity of PPF?
- After maturity, you can choose to close the PPF account and withdraw your entire accumulated corpus. This will be the very first option.
- You can also choose to extend the terms of your investment for 5 years without new contributions.
- Or you can also increase the life of your PPF investment with fresh contributions.
