How to Transfer Your PPF Account & Link it to Savings Account

Public Provident Fund (PPF) is an investment scheme sponsored by the Government of India. It is immensely popular with investors because it falls under the EEE (exempt-exempt-exempt) tax category. This means that all deposits made, the returns earned, and the corpus when withdrawn are tax-free. If you are yet to do your tax-saving investments for this year, invest in PPF now.

The PPF has a lock-in period of 15 years. After the lock-in period, you can extend it in blocks of 5 years. It is also possible for parents to open a PPF account in the names of their minor children and claim tax exemption on the deposits.

Let us assume your parents opened a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account for you as a minor. Since you started earning you continued the same account and contributed towards it for your tax-savings investments. But now you are not satisfied with the services of the bank. You have zeroed in on Axis Bank since it offers you the option to open a PPF account and invest online every month. Unfortunately, your original bank does not offer this facility. So, should you transfer your PPF account or open a new one? Let us understand in detail.

How to transfer the PPF account?
An individual cannot have more than one PPF account. So you have to transfer your PPF account from your previous bank to Axis Bank. The process is simple, though it can take a couple of weeks. Here is what you should do:

• Visit the branch of your existing bank with your PPF passbook and apply for the transfer. The application should mention the full address of the Axis Bank branch where you want to transfer the account.
• Submit your old passbook with the bank.
• The bank will then close your PPF account in its system and send some documents to the Axis Bank branch. These include:
  1. Certified copy of the account
  2. Original Account opening application form
  3. Nomination form
  4. Specimen of your signatures
  5. A cheque or demand draft of the outstanding balance
  6. Existing PPF passbook
  7. PPF Transfer request letter submitted by customer and acknowledgment of Bank
• The Axis Bank branch will inform you once they get all these documents. You will have to submit a new account opening form along with all your KYC documents. Axis Bank will then issue you a new passbook.

To make it easier to invest in your PPF account regularly, you can also link your Savings Account to it. Let us see the procedure for that.

• The process is the same as adding any third-party payee
• Log in to net banking and add your PPF account number and IFSC code.
• You can opt to transfer funds digitally once you add the account
• You can even opt for an ECS (Electronic Clearing Mandate) to make deposits in the PPF account every month.
• While calculating the interest for the PPF account, the account balance between the fifth and end of every month is considered. Hence, to maximise returns, ensure that you make such deposits before the fifth of every month.

The Government of India has authorised Axis Bank to offer PPF account services to customers. The advantage of opening a PPF account with Axis Bank is that you can invest online by linking your Axis Bank savings account and the PPF account. You can also view the balance as well as print statements. If you want to withdraw some funds from your PPF account prematurely, speak to your Relationship Manager, who will help you with the process. Visit us to know more about PPF accounts with Axis Bank.

Disclaimer: The Source, a content creation and curation firm has authored this article. Axis Bank does not influence the views of the author in any way. Axis Bank and The Source shall not be responsible for any direct/indirect loss or liability incurred by the reader for taking any financial decisions based on the contents and information. Please consult your financial advisor before making any financial decision.

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What is the lock in period for PPF Accounts?

15 years + 5 year extensions

10 Years + 3 year extensions