PPF (Public Provident Fund) is one of the most popular long-term saving instruments in India. It is also a decent tax saving tool under Section 80C Of The Income Tax Act. There is tax benefit under Section 80C with maximum limit of Rs 1,50,000 per annum. The interest earned on the investment is also tax free which means tax is not deducted at source.
PPF, is a good alternative for people who are self-employed (or) are from unorganized sectors since EPF/GPF is not available to them.
PPF account can be opened in a designated post office or a bank branch. Some of the banks do offer the PPF account opening facility through online mode, but the entire process is not paper-less. Some documentation work is required and you have to visit the branch to complete the account opening process.
If you are a customer of ICICI Bank, there is some good news for you! Customers can now open a PPF account online, 24X7. ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a digital service that enables customers to open a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account instantly and in a completely online and paperless manner.
ICICI Bank has worked closely with the Ministry of Finance to pioneer a completely online proposition for opening a PPF account.
An ICICI Bank customer can now conveniently open a PPF account anytime, anywhere using the bank’s digital channels of internet and mobile banking/Mobile APP. ICICI Bank claims that it is the first bank in India to offer instant Public Provident Fund (PPF) account facility.
How to open online PPF Account instantly through ICICI Bank?
Below are the pre-quisites to open an instant PPF account online @ ICICI Bank ;
- You need to be a Savings Bank account customer of ICICI Bank.
- Should have access to ICICI bank’s Netbanking / Mobile banking / APP facilities.
- You need to have linked Aadhaar to your Savings account (or) need to provide it at the time of opening the PPF account online.
- Your mobile number which is linked to your Aadhaar should be in active status, to receive OTP (one time password) which is used to e-sign/e-authorize opening of PPF account instantly.
Below is the step by step procedure to open instant PPF account online ;
- Visit ICICI Bank portal and login with your credentials.
- Click on ‘My Accounts’ tab and select ‘PPF Accounts‘ option.
- Click on ‘open now’ button.
- In the next screen, you can select your savings bank account number from which you would like to contribute to PPF account, enter initial deposit amount, PAN number is pre-filled (if already provided else you need to update it) and select the state/branch details (you can select any one of the listed branches located in your State).
- If you wish to add nomination same as in your Savings account, select ‘yes’. You can also update/change your nomination details later on.
- You can also set-up ‘standing instruction’ for automatic debit at periodic intervals.
- If you wish to add nomination same as in your Savings account, select ‘yes’. You can also update/change your nomination details later on.
- Verify your personal details, address, nomination data and click on ‘proceed’ button.
- In the next screen, you need to verify Aadhaar number. If your bank account is already linked to Aadhaar, you can click on ‘Generate OTP’, else need to update your Aadhaar online.
- You can e-sign with Aadhaar OTP to open PPF account online instantly.
- On submission of the above, your PPF account is created instantly within a few seconds. The account number of PPF is displayed instantly to you. (Kindly note that the statement of transaction as well as the annual statement of the PPF account is available on internet banking.)
You can follow similar steps to open the PPF account from your ICICI Bank mobile App (iMobile) as well.
Important points
- As per law, an individual can have only one PPF a/c in his/her name.
- A minimum of Rs. 100 can be deposited as initial deposit amount.
- PPF account for minors can not be opened through online mode. You need to visit any of the ICICI Bank branches.
- NRIs can not open PPF account.
- You can visit the nearest ICICI Bank branch and give the request for nomination updation/change (if required).
- Joint-account holders can not open PPF account online.
- Customer needs to visit the branch to get the passbook for a PPF account.
Continue reading :
- In whose name can you invest in PPF?
- Tax Treatment of various Financial Instruments (like PPF, EPF, NPS, ELSS etc.,)
- Latest NSC & PPF rules for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)
- PPF A/c Premature Closure : Latest Rules & Eligibility Amount Calculation
- List of best Investment Options in India
Kindly note that ReLakhs.com is not associated with ICICI Bank. This is NOT a sponsored/paid post. We have not received any monetary benefit for publishing this article. The content of this post is intended for general information / educational purposes only.
(Reference : ICICI Bank portal) (Post published on : 08-December-2017)
Join our channels
I have just opened a PPF account in ICICI bank on 25th March 2018 with initial amount 50k from my Saving acc. So will they consider 2017-18 year also for my ppf account? Does that mean i will get one less year for 15 years of period?
I have transfered 50k on 25th march so should i add 1 Lac or 1.5Lac in April’18. I am little bit confused.
Kind Regards,
Rakesh
Dear Rakesh,
If the PPF ac has been opened and the amount has been deducted in FY 2017-18, then Rs 50k is applicable for FY 2017-18 / AY 2018-19 only.
You can contribute up to Rs 1.5 lakh more in FY 2018-19.
hi, can i open the ppf account with variable payments option, i mean, can i open the account with minimum amount of Rs. 500, and change the installment amount in the next year.
Dear Swetha,
Customers need to deposit minimum Rs. 500 in the PPF account per year.
And I believe that you can change the next installment amount. You may kindly contact the customer care of the bank..
I have just seen the ICICI portal and came to know that they have STOPPED doing this online PPF account opening facility. Now we need to visit bank to open PPF account. NOTHING IN ONLINE.
Dear Abi,
I can view the online facility available in my ICICI account through net-banking and also in Bank’s mobile APP.
You may kindly contact their customer care.
Thanks Sreekanth, I’ve spoken with their customer care also. They have told me that ICICI have stopped giving the option of opening the PPF account instantly online. Instead they give one time registration which needs to go through near by branch process.
Even I did checked it up my wife ICICI bank account and I can see the same one time registration process which needs to go through near by bank branch.
Either ICICI knows that I’m going to put some money in PPF from my account balance and they dont want me to put PPF instead they may suggest some of their products if I visit their branch OR they really stopped the service of opening the PPF account online instantly.
Anyways I’m visiting the ICICI bank tomorrow and will update you more on this,
Dear Abi,
Ok, kindly check with the ICICI staff in person and provide us the latest info!
As of now, I am able to see the options to open PPF account through Aadhaar based ekyc..
Hi Sreekanth,
I’ve visited our nearest ICICI branch yesterday and they too confirmed the same that instant opening of PPF account is currently disabled. I too quoted our conversations and said some people can see the option of instant opening online, but they are puzzled with that 🙁
All in whole, I felt there should be some AI tool running behind and predict the customer actions from which they are blocking this feature of instant opening. Adding to this, bank is pushing loads of their own products instead of PPF !!!
It so weird, how it turns out but the truth is bank literally cornered me and brought to their premises and pressurized with their products instead of government’s fund. End of the day, banks had forgotten their purpose and instead they are acting as a pure commercialized system.
– Abi
Dear Abi,
Agree with your views on aggressive cross-selling of products by the banks/intermediaries.
Most of the times, this cross-selling of financial products is not in the best interests of the banking clients, a lot of mis-selling is happening!.
Let’s buyer be aware and beaware of such acts!
Hello Srikanth Sir,
I have been following your website for 1 year. You are article quality is amazing. You explain everything step by step manner. Like you said in one of your interview, basunivesh.com is your inspiration to create a blog, you are my inspiration to create a blog. I have just started my new blog on investing. Although I cant compete for your site, I hope I can take it to next level. I am not sharing my website link here because you might feel that I am commenting to get a backlink. I just wanted to mention that you and myinvestmentideas.com is my inspiration. Thank you sir.
Thank you dear Radha!
All the very best!
Thank You Sir. Good to see a Telugu blogger with a successful blog.
Hello Sir,
Thank you for sharing the information about PPF account. I would recommend this article as there is detailed and step by step information how to open a PPF account if you are a ICICI bank customer.
I have a Question ? If I have a NRE account in ICICI bank, Can I open the PPF account online.
Kind Regards
Dear Shirley,
Kindly note that NRIs are not eligible to open/contribute to PPF accounts.