Govt Mandates To Submit Passbooks At The Time of Closure of Post Office Accounts

The Department of Posts (DoP) under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications, Government of India has mandated the account holders to submit their passbook at the time of closure/premature closure of any accounts such as Recurring Deposit/Term Deposit/Monthly Income Scheme (MIS)/Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)/Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) in post offices. Account-holders who want to close their small saving scheme accounts prematurely or at maturity must now submit their updated passbook to the post office. In a circular issued on 13.01.2022, DoP has said that "At the time of closure/premature closure of any TDA type of accounts (RD/TD/MIS/SCSS/KVP and NSC), all single and double-handed post offices (including BOs) shall collect closed passbook from the account holders. The closure entry is to be noted after the last transaction in the passbook by the post office concerned with the date stamp."

The department has also noted that "After verification of closure of account in Finacle, the supervisor shall generate and print "account closure report" by invoking HPR menu and handover to the account holder as acknowledgment. If any depositor demand an account statement it may also be provided in lieu of a passbook without any charges. After closure of the account, passbooks of closed TDA category accounts shall be attached with the Account Closure Form and sent in a manner as prescribed for dispatch of vouchers and Long Book Consolidation Journal."

The postmaster in charge shall record the number of closed passbooks in the "Long Book Consolidation Report-BRN (Today)" or consolidation record. In Savings Bank Control Organization (SBCO), designated SBCO PA shall also tally the account number and amount in the closed passbooks received with the closure voucher concerned from the single-handed and double-handed post office and will write "Received all closed passbooks for TDA type of accounts" on Long Book consolidation report-BRN received with voucher bundle, according to the department.

Customers who want to close their accounts can visit this link and download the application form. They are required to fill the form completely after which they have to visit their branch office to submit the application form along with the passbook in order to close their accounts successfully. They may also call Customer Care Toll Free Number 1800 266 6868 between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m except Sunday and gazetted holidays for more clarifications.