Now, you won’t be charged for updating or modifying details of the nominee in your Public Provident Fund (PPF) account as “necessary changes” are being made to the Government Savings Promotion General Rules 2018.
“In the Government Savings Promotion General Rules, 2018, in Schedule II, under ‘Fee to be charged for services,’ the words and figures ‘(b) Cancellation or change of nomination – ₹50’ shall be deleted,” a Finance Ministry notification stated. This change has been made effective from April 2.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a post on ‘X’, has said that she was informed recently about this fee being levied by financial institutions for “updating/modifying nominee details” in PPF accounts.
She said that “necessary changes are now made in the Government Savings Promotion General Rules 2018 via Gazette Notification 02/4/25 to remove any charges on the updation of nominees for PPF accounts.”
The details of the nominee for any PPF account are important because the funds lying in the account is transferred to the designated beneficiary in the event of the account holder’s demise.
The Banking Amendment Bill 2025, passed recently, allows nomination up to 4 persons for payment of depositors’ money, articles kept in safe custody and safety lockers, she added.
Also read: Public Provident Fund: How PPF can help double your money
PPF, a government-backed scheme, has a lock-in period of 15 years for deposits. It currently provides an annual interest rate of 7.1%, which is compounded annually. Compared to EPF and several other small savings, this rate of return seems modest, but its compounding interest benefits and tax-free returns make the PPF an effective wealth-building investment product. The government reviews the interest rate on PPF and other small-savings instruments periodically.