Deadline alert: Small savings schemes at risk of being frozen if Aadhaar, PAN not updated by Sept 30

Investors in small savings schemes like the Public Provident Fund (PPF), Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS), and National Savings Certificate must ensure they submit their Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar card documents by September 30, 2023. Failure to do so could lead to the freezing of their accounts, as per a government notification. If frozen, investors won't be able to carry out transactions or withdraw their money.

It's important to note that if investors have already provided these documents, there's no need for resubmission. Additionally, individuals who began investing in small savings schemes on or after April 1, 2023, are already required to have PAN; therefore, they do not need to submit Aadhaar and PAN by the September 30 deadline.

Small savings schemes are favored investment options in India, particularly among senior citizens. The government reviews interest rates on these schemes every quarter. For the July-September 2023 quarter, select small savings schemes saw interest rate hikes ranging from 10 to 30 basis points (bps). However, interest rates on schemes like the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), and Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme (SCSS) remained unchanged.

The PPF interest rate has remained unchanged since April-June 2020 when it was reduced from 7.9 percent to 7.1 percent. Prior to that, it was lowered in July-September 2019, and the last increase was in October-December 2018 when it was raised to 8 percent from 7.6 percent.