PPF or Public Provident Fund is a small but tax beneficial savings fund provided by the Government of India. The rate of interest of this saving is determined by the central government on a quarterly basis. At present, the rate of interest offered by PPF is 7.9% interest annually.
The minimum amount mandated to be deposited in a PPF account is Rs 500 and the maximum deposit can reach upto Rs 1.5 lakh in a financial year. The biggest benefit of a PPF is that the interest earned by it is completely exempted from income tax. A PPF account can be easily opened at a Post Office, all Public Sector Banks such as State Bank of India (SBI) and also at private banks like ICICI Bank. A PPF account can be opened at any bank or post office branches or via online. If you are willing to open it online via State Bank of India, you have to have access to online internet banking and can then open it through SBI PPF account online.
Follow the Steps to open SBI Public Provident Fund account online:
1) First, log in to SBI online account and click on ‘Request and enquiries’ tab located on the top right corner.
2) Click on the new PPF account from the drop-down menu
3) After clicking on ‘new PPF account’, you will be directed to a page where you will have to fill your account details.
4) If you are willing to open an account in the name of a minor, then you need to click on the tab that says ‘If the account to be opened in the name of a Minor, click here’.
5) Furnish all the details of the minor (name, age). You will be asked to fill the relationship details with the applicant, in case the account you are willing to open is in the name of a minor.
6) f the account is not about a minor, then simply fill the branch code in which you want to open your PPF account.
7) After furnishing the branch code, you will have to put in the names of nominees. You can add a maximum of five nominees can be added for a PPF account.
8) After submitting the details, you will see a dialogue box saying, ‘your form has been successfully submitted’. It will also contain a reference number.
9) Now download the form with the reference number provided
10) Print the form after downloading it and submit it at the branch within the 30 days along with KYC documents.
