If you are a salaried employee, Public Provident Fund (PPF) is one of the best debt instruments available for investment in India and it is tax free. You can open the PPF account in selected branches of SBI, associate banks of SBI and ICICI bank.
I was aware about the benefits of opening a PPF account but many times I postponed it. Finally I decided to do it some how and opened an account last week.
Here is the procedure for opening the PPF account.
Prerequisites:
- Two passport size photos
- original address proof document and 2 copies
- original PAN card and 2 copies.
Note: For address proof Passport, Driving License or Voters ID will be sufficient.
- Go to a SBI branch that supports the facility to open a PPF account and get the PPF account opening forms(I have listed the SBI branch offices in Bangalore that supports PPF at the end of the post) . You need to fill up 2 forms. One for account opening and second one for the nomination (nomination form is not mandatory I guess) .You will also get a pay-in-slip for payment. Affix your photo on the account opening form. Witness signatures are required on the nomination form.
- Submit the forms to the bank official. Once you submt the filled up forms, a bank official will verify the copies with the originals and return the forms to you. They will direct you to the counter for opening the account.
- Submit the forms and document copies in the counter for opening account. You will be issued a PPF account number and forms will be returned to you with the account number.
- Remit your payment against it using the pay-in-slip for PPF account and collect the receipt from the cashier. Minimum amount you required to open a PPF account is 500 rupees.
- Show the payment receipt to the counter for opening account and the bank official will issue a pass book like your normal SB account passbook and they will collect the forms from you and keep it in the bank.
PPF investments are eligible for tax deductions. To claim income deductions, you can take a copy of the PPF passbook for the transactions for the financial year and then submit it to the authorities.
Tips: Many people don't open a PPF thinking that it is painful to visit the bank each time when you have to make a payment. Be smart, times have changed. Now you can pay online even if you don't have a SBI account. I don't have any SBI savings account but I am able to transfer money from my Citi bank account to PPF account by adding my PPF account as a payee in my account.
If you are still thinking about opening an account read this excellent post from Manish about why we should open a PPF account.
http://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/08/why-to-open-ppf-account-even-if-you.html
If you don't know about what is a PPF account, see this link : http://www.jagoinvestor.com/2008/04/providend-fund.html
If you are in Bangalore the following banks support PPF facility as per my knowledge. (It is not a comprehensive list and I will update it whenever I receive more information)
- SBI Koramangala
- SBI Hulimavu
- SBI Bannerghatta road
- SBI HAL
- SBI Richard town
- SBI Indira Nagar
- SBI Sarjapura Road
- SBI Belandur
- SBI Banashankari 2 stage
- SBI ITPL
- SBI Kempa Gowda Road, Bangalore Main Branch
- SBI Basaveshwarnagar
- SBI Cantonement, St Marks Road
- SBI Sanjay Nagar
- SBI Jeevan Bheema Nagar
- SBI Hegde Nagar
- SBI BTM (Mico Layout)
- SBI NAL Branch
- SBI JP Nagar Branch
Now you can also open PPF accounts with ICICI bank at selected branches.
In Bangalore ICICI M G Road branch offers PPF facility. For the complete list of ICICI bank branches that supports PPF facility see the following weblink:
http://www.icicibank.com/online-services/public-provident-fund/designated-branches.html
