New Delhi: The Department of Posts has made it public that it will put a hold on all small savings scheme accounts that have not either been closed or renewed after a period of three years post-maturity. This indicates that all sorts of activities related to it will be halted. Account holders will have to file a request with the relevant authority if they wish to reactivate their accounts. As reported by ET, a directive issued on July 15, 2022 discusses the automation of the account freezing procedure. This procedure will take place biannually so that such accounts can be flagged and the protection of the depositors’ funds can be guaranteed. The order includes the following schemes: Time Deposit, Monthly Income Scheme, National Savings Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra, among others. Which accounts will be frozen? As remarked by the Postal Department, there exists a good number of small savings accounts that are eligible to be frozen. These are Time Deposit (TD), Monthly Income Scheme (MIS), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Recurring Deposit (RD), and Public Provident Fund (PPF) accounts.What is the impact of the freeze on the account? Once your post office savings account is frozen, you cannot make any transactions, deposit, or withdrawal. Additionally, any standing orders or online transactions will be disabled. The identification process to freeze such accounts will begin on July 1 and January 1 of every year. This process will take 15 days to fully complete. Therefore, accounts that reach the three-year mark on June 30 and December 31 will be flagged and frozen. What steps are involved in unfreezing your small savings account? When your account is frozen, you’ll have to take steps to unfreeze it. In that case, you just need to submit the necessary documents to the relevant department to get it reopened. The account holder must visit any post office with the passbook or certificate and KYC documents which include a mobile number, PAN card, Aadhaar card, and address proof.The account holder must submit an account closure form, along with the passbook and details of the post office savings account or bank account. Additionally, a cancelled cheque or passbook must be submitted to enable a direct deposit of the maturity amount into their savings account. The department first verifies the depositor’s details. After that, the verified details are cross-checked with the account holder’s signature to confirm their identity.The account will be unfrozen and the funds released if all verification steps are successfully completed. Funds will be credited to the account holder’s post office savings account or bank account. The transfer will be done via ECS (Electronic Clearing Service).
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