Latest news with #NationalSavingsCertificate
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Postal Department to engage agents for sale of PLI products
The Department of Posts will conduct a walk-in interview for engaging direct agents for sale of Postal Life Insurance products in the office of the chief postmaster, Anna Road, Head post office on August 9 at 11 a.m. A press release said those aged above 18 and have passed class 10 are eligible to apply as direct agent. They must carry along an original and two photocopies of age, educational qualification and address proof with three passport size photographs. Selected candidates must provide cash security of Rs.5,000 in the form of National Savings Certificate/Kisan Vikas Patra, said the press release.
News18
05-08-2025
- Business
- News18
Why The Government Hasn't Raised Interest Rates On Popular Savings Schemes
Last Updated: Despite rising bank interest rates, the government hasn't changed small savings scheme rates in two years. For the past two years, the government has kept the interest rates on popular small savings schemes unchanged. This is even though both public and private banks have raised their home loan and fixed deposit rates significantly since May 2022. The hikes came after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the repo rate by 140 basis points during that period. Small savings schemes such as the Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Post Office Savings, and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana are important for the average Indian investor. These schemes offer long-term savings options with government backing, making them a reliable choice for pensioners and middle-class families. Why Interest Rates Stayed the Same According to Zee Business, experts in the banking sector say that the situation goes back to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, just after the nationwide lockdown was announced, the RBI slashed its repo rate by 75 basis points to 4.40 per cent to ease financial pressure on citizens. Following this, banks also lowered their deposit interest rates. During that time, the government did not reduce interest rates on small savings schemes. This was done to protect the earnings of depositors, especially senior citizens who rely heavily on such schemes for regular income. Now, even though the RBI is increasing the repo rate and banks are offering higher returns on deposits, the government is holding small savings rates steady. Banking insiders believe that the government is using this as a way to manage rising interest costs, as per Zee Business. Since banks had earlier lowered deposit rates and small savings rates remained untouched, the current strategy helps balance the overall interest burden. Officials also mentioned that future changes will depend on how inflation behaves and the country's liquidity situation. If inflation rises sharply or there is less liquidity in the system, the government may consider revising the rates. But for now, no such move has been made. On June 30, 2022, the Finance Ministry officially announced that interest rates for small savings schemes would remain the same for the July–September quarter of the financial year 2022–23. Current Interest Rates Here are the latest rates on key small savings schemes: – Public Provident Fund (PPF): 7.1 per cent – National Savings Certificate (NSC): 6.8 per cent – Post Office Monthly Income Scheme: 6.6 per cent – Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: 7.6 per cent – Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (5-Year): 7.4 per cent – Kisan Vikas Patra: 6.9 per cent These rates remain fixed for now, offering stable but slightly lower returns compared to bank deposits. However, they continue to be a safe and preferred choice for many Indian savers. view comments Location : Delhi, India, India First Published: News business Why The Government Hasn't Raised Interest Rates On Popular Savings Schemes Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
01-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bank told to clear PF dues of retired manager with interest, pay Rs 75K in compensation
Hyderabad: The Telangana consumer disputes redressal commission has directed a city-based bank to pay Rs 12.7 lakh in provident fund dues along with interest to Kandadai Venkatacharyulu, a retired bank manager. The commission also awarded him Rs 50,000 as compensation and Rs 25,000 towards litigation costs. Venkatacharyulu, who worked as a branch manager, was suspended in 2007 and later dismissed from service before retirement. Despite completing 36 years of service by 2008, his retirement benefits were withheld. He alleged that the bank adjusted his provident fund (PF) contributions against a clean overdraft (COD) loan without consent, and denied him interest for nearly five years. According to Venkatacharyulu, his own PF contribution of Rs 4.37 lakh was transferred in March 2013 to settle the COD account without paying interest from April 2008. The bank's contribution of Rs 7.4 lakh was also held back. Additionally, other amounts, including Rs 37,277 from a National Savings Certificate and Rs 46,072 from an insurance claim were adjusted without informing him. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad The commission ruled that Venkatacharyulu qualifies as a "consumer" and the bank as a "service provider" under the Consumer Protection Act. It noted that the bank failed to prove he alone caused the financial loss it cited to justify the recovery. "In fact, another employee admitted to using his password to carry out transactions," the commission observed. "There was no proper apportionment of individual liability, and the bank had no legal right to recover the full amount from the complainant." The panel further said denying PF interest violated Article 300A of the Constitution, which protects a person's right to property. "Withholding dues without interest is unjust," it stated, ordering the bank to pay up with interest from 2008 onwards.
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Best tax saving mutual funds or ELSS to invest in July 2025
Tax saving mutual funds or ELSSs invest in stocks. Therefore, they have a very high risk. You should be aware of this aspect, especially if you are a first-time investor in equity mutual funds. Compared to your usual investments like Public Provident Fund or National Savings Certificate, etc, ELSSs do not offer guaranteed returns. You may even suffer losses in a bad market. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Best ELSS or tax saving mutual funds to invest in July 2025: Canara Robeco ELSS Tax Saver Fund Mirae Asset ELSS Tax Saver Fund Invesco India ELSS Tax Saver Fund DSP ELSS Tax Saver Fund Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund (new addition) Bank of India ELSS Tax Saver (new addition) Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Most taxpayers make their investments in the last three months of the financial year (January-March). Most of them look for the investment options available under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act (IT Act). The Section 80C of the Income Tax Act allows tax deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh in a financial year on investments in a few specified instruments. If you are trying to save taxes in this financial year, you can consider investing in tax-saving mutual funds or -saving mutual funds or Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSSs) helps you to save income tax under Section 80C of the IT Act. You can invest a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh in ELSSs and claim tax deductions on your investments every financial year. Are you interested?Before proceeding further, you should familiarise yourself with ELSSs. Tax saving mutual funds or ELSSs invest in stocks. Therefore, they have a very high risk. You should be aware of this aspect, especially if you are a first-time investor in equity mutual funds. Compared to your usual investments like Public Provident Fund or National Savings Certificate, etc, ELSSs do not offer guaranteed returns. You may even suffer losses in a bad why should you invest in ELSSs? One, these schemes have the potential to offer higher returns over a long period. As you know, tax saving schemes invest in stocks. And stocks typically offer higher returns over a long period of time. For example, the ELSS category offered an average return of around 13.61% over 10 ELSS funds have the shortest lock-in period of three years among tax saving investments. Most other investment options under the 80C basket are government-backed investments. They typically come with longer lock-in periods. For example, PPF is a 15-year product that allows partial withdrawals after six years. The NSC is a five-year product. So, if you want access to your money in three years, you should invest in ELSSs. But don't count on it to offer you great returns in three years. You should always keep in mind that equity investing is for the long term. You should invest in equity mutual funds only if you have an investment horizon of five to seven the third and the most important point to remember is that ELSSs is an entry point for many investors into investing in stocks. Many investors often start with ELSSs and the mandatory lock-in period of three years in these schemes helps them to weather the volatility in the stock market. Once these investors see the rewards coming in, say, five or seven years, they start investing more money in equity you are interested in investing in these schemes, here are our recommended ELSSs you may consider investing in these schemes. Invesco India Tax Plan Fund has been in the third quartile for the last 12 months. The scheme had been in the fourth quartile earlier. Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver Fund has been in the third quartile for the last 11 months. The scheme had been in the fourth quartile earlier. Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund was in the third quartile for 17 months. ETMutualFunds has employed the following parameters for shortlisting the equity mutual fund daily for the last three Exponent, H is used for computing the consistency of a fund. The H exponent is a measure of randomness of NAV series of a fund. Funds with high H tend to exhibit low volatility compared to funds with low H.i) When H = 0.5, the series of returns is said to be a geometric Brownian time series. This type of time series is difficult to When H is less than 0.5, the series is said to be mean When H is greater than 0.5, the series is said to be persistent. The larger the value of H, the stronger is the trend of the seriesWe have considered only the negative returns given by the mutual fund scheme for this measure.X =Returns below zeroY = Sum of all squares of XZ = Y/number of days taken for computing the ratioDownside risk = Square root of ZIt is measured by Jensen's Alpha for the last three years. Jensen's Alpha shows the risk-adjusted return generated by a mutual fund scheme relative to the expected market return predicted by the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Higher Alpha indicates that the portfolio performance has outstripped the returns predicted by the returns generated by the MF Scheme = [Risk Free Rate + Beta of the MF Scheme * {(Average return of the index - Risk Free Rate}For Equity funds, the threshold asset size is Rs 50 crore
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Business Standard
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
No slips, no forms: Aadhaar e-KYC now live for Post Office RD, PPF
Depositors can open and manage recurring deposit and public provident fund accounts using Aadhaar biometrics Amit Kumar New Delhi Post offices nationwide will allow customers to open and manage recurring deposit (RD) and public provident fund (PPF) accounts using Aadhaar-based biometric e-KYC, making processes quicker and paperless. What's new? The facility was available for Monthly Income Scheme, Time Deposit, Kisan Vikas Patra, and National Savings Certificate. It has been extended to RD and PPF, two of the most popular small savings accounts among Indians. Open new RD and PPF accounts using Aadhaar biometric authentication. Deposit money into RD and PPF accounts without using pay-in slips. Open RD and PPF loan accounts and repay loans using biometric verification. Make partial or full withdrawals from PPF accounts, irrespective of limits, via Aadhaar biometrics. This Aadhaar-linked process eliminates the need for physical forms such as withdrawal vouchers and pay-in slips, reducing paperwork and transaction time. How does it work? When opening an RD or PPF account, the depositor's biometric is captured twice: The first capture obtains consent for using Aadhaar details. The second scan authenticates the transaction. For deposits and withdrawals, the biometric alone is sufficient for verification. Customers can even transfer funds from their Post Office savings accounts without submitting withdrawal forms. Added security For privacy, Aadhaar numbers on forms will appear in a masked format (e.g., xxxx-xxxx-1234). If an unmasked Aadhaar appears on any document, post office chiefs have been instructed to manually mask the first eight digits. This initiative aligns with the government's push for a digital-first approach to small savings and promises greater convenience for depositors, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
