Procedure to Reactivate a PPF Account

The Public Provident Fund or PPF account is one of the most popular forms of the long-term saving instrument which can be opted by an investor to meet a set financial goal. To achieve the said goal, one needs to work dedicatedly to realize the same, or else the dream will remain a dream.

The main intention of introducing the PPF scheme to the general public was to mobilize small saving in the form of an instrument which over some time can act as a retirement corpus if the investment is made continuously for 15 long - years.

This government-backed investment scheme offers guaranteed, risk - free returns along with capital protection on the investment. The element of risk associated with a PPF account is negligible and hence it is one of the most sought out forms of investment for an investor who is planning for long - term investment.

Procedure to Reactivate a PPF Account

The public provident fund comes under EEE category of Income Tax which means, exempt, exempt, exempt. The initial amount (principal), interest earned and maturity value all of them are exempt from tax under the Income Tax Act of 1961.

Any investor can deposit a minimum of Rs 500 per year into the account and the maximum investment of up to Rs 1,50,000 per annum to this account on an annual basis either in lumpsum or in a maximum of 12 deposits. But it is mandatory to make the investment every year, failing to do so will lead to deactivation of the account.

The unique feature of this public provident fund includes that whatever the amount has been deposited by the account holder in the account, it continues to earn interest despite the account being in an inactive state. Apart from this, the account holder can even apply for a loan against an inactive PPF account.

The only drawback of holding a PPF account is one cannot close the account before completion of maturity and one have to wait till 15 years beginning from the date of opening of the account for closing the same.

If in case, the account gets deactivated, then there is an option to reactivate the same by following the said procedure. Let's understand in detail the Procedure to Reactivate a PPF Account.

Application

The first and foremost thing to reactivate a PPF account is to write an application form by the account holder and make a written request to the bank or the post office wherein he/she holds the said PPF account by making a formal request to reactivate the deactivated PPF account.

The application for the same can be made any time during the entire 15-year tenure of said PPF account.

Depositing the Money

The next step is to deposit a minimum of Rs 500 for each of the years during which the PPF account was inactive. For this, the account holder will have to give a cheque which has to be submitted to the respective branch along with the application form.

Penalty

Most of the banks or even post offices do levy penalty charges on the account holder charging him/her Rs 50 for each of the financial year in which the account was in an inactive state. This penalty charges should be deposited along with the payment of the arrears.

Scrutiny

Once the account holder applies to the said bank or post offices, they will scrutinize the application with the relevant records they hold with them for further processing the application.

If the period of the deposit of 15 years has elapsed, then it is not possible to reactivate the said account. But the maturity proceeds of the account can be accessed by paying the penalty fee.

GoodReturns.in