Like many other small savings schemes, Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and National Pension System (NPS) also require a minimum contribution every year to avoid becoming inactive.
If the account holders of these schemes have not deposited any money for the current financial year, then such people will have to pay on or before 31 March 2022 to keep their account active. All these schemes help the taxpayers to avail deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. The deduction limit of Rs 1.5 lakh under section 80C includes 80CCC (contribution to pension plan) and 80CCD(1), 80CCD(1B) and 80CCD(2).
Public Provident Fund (PPF)
The minimum annual contribution for a PPF account in a financial year is Rs 500. The last date to make this payment for the current financial year is March 31, 2022. If an account holder fails to make contributions by March 31, 2022, he will have to pay a penalty of Rs 50 for the previous year and outstanding subscription of Rs 500 for that year. Further, if the minimum contribution is not made in the financial year, the PPF account will be considered inoperative. A dormant PPF account will not be entitled to the facility of availing loan or making partial withdrawal until the account is made active again.
National Pension System (NPS)
It is mandatory for NPS account holders to contribute a minimum of Rs 1,000 in a financial year to keep the account active. If the minimum contribution is not made to the NPS Tier-I account, the account will become inoperative. For restarting the dormant NPS account, one has to pay a penalty of Rs 100 every year with a minimum contribution. Point of Presence (POP) charges will also be added for unfreezing the NPS account. If one also has a Tier II NPS account (where lock-in of funds is not required), the Tier-II account will be automatically frozen along with the freezing of Tier-I account. This will happen even if there is no minimum contribution requirement in Tier II.
Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA)
You are required to deposit a minimum of Rs 250 in a financial year to keep the Sukanya Samriddhi account active. If the minimum deposit is not made in any financial year, the account will be considered inoperative. Dormant account can be regularized before completion of 15 years from the date of opening of SSY account. To regularize the account, the account holder has to pay a minimum of Rs 250 with a penalty of Rs 50 for each year.
