How To Make Pre-Closure of Post Office TD/RD Account Online?

The Department of Posts, which is supervised by the Ministry of Communications of the Government of India, offers two small saving schemes called Post Office Time Deposit Deposit Account (TD) and 5-Year Post Office Recurring Deposit (RD) Account to debt investors who want to build a secure wealth by investing and earning risk-free returns. These two small savings schemes provide a number of advantages, including a flexible tenure, higher interest rates, a lower initial account opening amount, the flexibility to create an account online, the option to close an account prematurely, and much more.

In the event of a fiscal crisis, the account holder can express a preference for partial withdrawals to cover unexpected costs, and thus the benefits of premature closure of small savings schemes can be used to cover any unwelcome emergencies or needs which puts the small savings schemes out of the box especially for long term investors. Premature closure can be done either online or offline, however, there are several guidelines that depositors must follow first.

Premature closure rules of post office time deposit

A post office time deposit account can be established for a fixed tenure of one year, two years, three years, or five years. Accounts can be started with a minimum deposit of Rs. 1000 and multiples of Rs. 100, with no maximum investment restriction. This small savings scheme pays 5.5 percent interest on accounts held for 1 to 3 years and 6.7 percent on accounts held for 5 years.

After 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, and 5 years from the date of opening, the deposit amount along with accrued interest can be withdrawn as maturity. In the event of a premature withdrawal, no deposit can be withdrawn before the six-month period from the date of deposit.

If a time deposit account is closed after six months but before one year, the account holder will be eligible for the PO Savings Account Interest Rate of 4%. Similarly, if a time deposit account is held for 2 years, 3 years or 5 years and is prematurely closed after 1 year, interest will be determined at a rate that is 2% lower than the time deposit interest rate applicable on 1/2/3 years of post office time deposit (POTD) for completed years, and PO Savings Interest rates will apply for part periods less than a year.

Premature closure of a TD account is possible by submitting the specified application form "APPLICATION FOR PRE-MATURE CLOSURE OF ACCOUNT" along with a passbook to the relevant Post Office. You can also close the account prematurely online, allowing you to satisfy your liquidity needs faster.

Premature closure rules of post office recurring deposit account

A National Savings Recurring Deposit Account (RD) has a 5-year maturity period (60 monthly deposits) from the date of inception. The account can be started with a minimum monthly deposit of INR 100/- or any amount in multiples of INR 10/-, with no upper limit.

The current interest rate offered on the scheme is 5.8% per annum which is compounded quarterly. The Department of Posts permits the account holders to close their recurring deposit account prematurely after three years of the account opening date by submitting an application form called "APPLICATION FOR PRE-MATURE CLOSURE OF ACCOUNT" to the concerned post office.

Before applying for premature closure, account holders should be aware that the PO Savings Account interest rate will apply if the account is closed prematurely before maturity, and that they will not be able to close the account until the duration for which the advance deposits were made either offline or online.

Steps to make pre-closure of Post Office TD/RD Account Online

Account-holders should keep in mind that they must have a post office savings account with net banking activated in order to make a pre-closure of a Post Office TD/RD account online. In case an account holder has not applied for post office net banking, he or she can do so by reading the procedure here. Account-holders can close their Post Office TD/RD account prematurely by following the steps listed below if they only have valid net banking credentials.

• Visit ebanking.indiapost.gov.in and enter your User ID/Password to log in.
• Click on 'Login' and you will now get a one-time password (OTP) on your registered mobile number i.e. mobile number linked with your PO savings account.
• Enter the received OTP and click on 'Confirm' to verify the same.
• Now under the dashboard section of your net banking account page, click on 'General Services' and then click on 'Service Requests'.
• From the 'Service Requests' option, select 'New Requests' from the drop-down menu and click on 'Closure/Pre-closure of RD and TD Accounts'.
• Now select the type of deposit you have i.e.Post Office Time Deposit or Post Office Recurring Deposit.
• Click on 'Go' and select your deposit account number.
• Now select your credit account i.e. savings account you have on which you want to get the amount credited.
• Click on 'Submit Online' and on the next page confirm the request by entering the transaction password.
• Click on 'Submit' and your request will be submitted successfully.
• You will get a reference number against your request made and you can also download the online receipt in PDF format.
• Within 24 hours after submitting the request, the amount will be credited to your specified savings account.