Investment
oi-Vipul Das
The Post Office (TD) Term Deposit Account or the National Savings (TD) Term Deposit Account is a small savings scheme administered by the Department of Posts and supervised by the Ministry of Communications, Government of India . A Swiss Post Term Deposit (TD) account is ideal for debt investors who plan to build financial wealth with stable, inflation-proof returns. This small savings plan can be established offline by submitting a completed application form to your local post office or online. Customers must have a savings account at the same post office to open a term account. Opening an account by physically visiting your nearest branch can be inconvenient, while the online approach speeds up the process. Therefore, here is how you can create a Post Office Time Deposit (POTD) account online.
Key points of the Postal Term Account
- A term deposit account can be opened online or offline by depositing a minimum amount of Rs 1000/- and in multiples of Rs 100 with no upper limit.
- The account can be opened by a single adult, co-holders up to 3 adults, or in the name of a minor.
- The account can be opened for a flexible term of 1 year, 2 years, 3 years or 5 years.
- The current interest rate on post office term deposits is 5.5% for deposits with a maturity of one to three years and 6.7% for deposits with a maturity of five years. These interest rates are payable on an annual basis but calculated on a quarterly basis.
- By submitting an application form, the annual interest can be credited to the account holder’s savings account opened at the same post office.
- Investment in a 5 year old TD is eligible for a tax deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act 1961.
- Upon expiry, the account holder can extend the TD account by submitting an application form and passbook to the post office. The interest rate on the respective TD Account on the Maturity Day will continue until the Extended Term.
- It is only after six months from the date of deposit that a postal term account can be closed early. If a TD account is closed after six months but before one year, the PO Savings Account interest rate of 4% will apply.
How to open a postal term account online?
Net banking allows the holder of a postal savings account to create a term account. Accordingly, the depositor should have access to net banking. If the depositor has not yet subscribed to postal net banking, he can do so by click here. If the depositor has net banking credentials, he can open a term account online by following the steps described below.
- Visit ebanking.indiapost.gov.in and enter your username/password.
- Click “Login” and now you will get a one-time password (OTP) on your registered mobile number.
- Enter the OTP and click ‘Confirm’.
- You will now be redirected to the dashboard section of your net banking account.
- On the Dashboard page, click on “General Services”, then click on “Service Requests”.
- Under the “Service Requests” option, select “New Requests” from the drop-down menu.
- Under the ‘New Requests’ option, click on ‘TD Account – Open a TD Account’.
- Now complete the online form by entering the required details such as deposit amount, deposit term, account opening date and debit account.
- Click on ‘Submit online’ and confirm the request made.
- Click ‘Submit’ and you will receive an online receipt with a referral ID.
- You can download the cyber receipt in PDF format and you will also get the details of your successful application on your registered mobile number linked to your savings account.
Article first published: Sunday, February 13, 2022, 1:54 p.m. [IST]
