The Public Provident Fund(PPF) scheme offers excellent benefits – it’s a retirement scheme that promises incredible investment growth and also works as a tax saving instrument.
In order to check your PPF claim status online, you must:
- Intimate the bank to integrate your PPF account with the net banking system of that bank.
- Log into your account and begin the claim process.
- It must be kept in mind that the claim status can only be checked on only once you’ve logged into your account and started the claim process.
- Some banks only accept deposits online, in this case, the PPF withdrawal claimcan only be checked online.
- If the PPF account has been created in a post office, the claim status can be checked by a simple process of inquiring from the same post office.
It must be noted that withdrawal from the PPF account is subject to certain rules, which are:
- Partial withdrawals can be made, from the start of the 7th financial year after the account has been created.
- Only one partial withdrawal will be allowed every financial year (starting from the 7th financial year onwards).
- The amount that can be withdrawn is equal to the lower of:
- 50% of the account balance as at the end of the year immediately preceding the current year, or,
- 50% of the account balance as at the end of the 4th year, immediately preceding the current year.
- The full amount in your PPF account can only be withdrawn on maturity.
- The PPF account attains maturity in 15 years from the date on which it was created.
For example, Mr. A opens a PPF account in January, 2010.
- Year 1: April 2009 – March 2010 (Account opened within this timeframe – in January 2010).
- Year 2: April 2010 – March 2011.
- Year 3: April 2011 – March 2012 (This is the 4th year immediately preceeding the year in which withdrawals are possible, assuming Mr. A opted for withdrawal option as soon as he legally could. Mr. A can withdraw an amount equal to 50% of this amount if it is lower than that of “Year 6”).
- Year 4: April 2012 – March 2013.
- Year 5: April 2013 – March 2014.
- Year 6: April 2014 – March 2015 (This is the year immediately preceding the year in which withdrawals are possible, assuming Mr. A opted for the withdrawal option as soon as he legally could. Mr. A can withdraw an amount equal to 50% of this amount, if it is lower than that of “Year 3”).
- Year 7: April 2015 – April 2016 (Mr. A can begin withdrawing from his PPF account from this date).