To keep Public Provident Fund and Sukanya Samriddhi Account active, it is necessary to maintain minimum balance. If the account holder does not maintain the minimum balance by March 31, 2024, the account may become inactive. To keep the account active again, a penalty will have to be paid. Know what is the minimum amount in both these schemes?
To keep Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) account active, minimum balance has to be maintained. A new rule has also come into effect regarding this. Minimum balance will have to be maintained in these accounts till March 31, 2024. If he does not maintain his balance then his account may become inactive.
To reopen an inactive account, the account holder will have to pay a penalty. Let us know what is the minimum balance to be maintained in the account?
PPF
PPF account holder will have to deposit a minimum balance of Rs 500. This means that a minimum investment of Rs 500 will have to be made in a financial year. If there is not enough balance in the account then the account may be closed. The last date for maintaining minimum balance in PPF account is 31 March 2024.
If an amount of Rs 500 is not deposited in the account by March 31, then a penalty will have to be paid to reactivate the account. Its fine has to be paid at the rate of Rs 50 per year. Understand it this way, if the account is inactive for 2 years, then for re-activation, a fine of Rs 100 will have to be paid along with the investment amount.
With the account inactive due to lack of minimum balance, the account holder will not get many other benefits. No loan will be available on inactive account and money cannot be withdrawn from the account.
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
The minimum balance in Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is Rs 250. This means that to keep the account active one has to invest Rs 250 in a financial year. If you do not invest in this scheme then the account will be frozen. To activate the account again, the account holder will have to pay a penalty of Rs 50 per year.
Let us tell you that in Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, the government gives interest at the rate of 8.2 percent.