Today I am going to share very interesting and rare information related to PPF with you all.
Have you ever wondered how can one withdraw their PPF money without visiting the base branch (from where PPF was opened)? A lot of people open PPF account in one city and then move to another city. It’s really a headache to travel to another city just for the sake of closing the PPF account or withdrawing the money either at maturity or partially.
I tried to see if this is a problem that PPF holders face, and I found that a lot of people search for “Can I withdraw PPF from any SBI branch”? This means that this is widespread query and I decided to write on this.
There are many articles and people on internet who will tell you that you need to visit the base branch only to withdraw or close your PPF account, but recently I figured out that its not true and there is a process using which you can close or withdraw PPF money from any city without visiting the base branch where you opened the PPF account.
Here is one reference of a query like that on Yahoo answers
I want to share with you today that its a big myth and its actually POSSIBLE.
A few days back, I got in touch with Priyesh Sampat, Legacy & Succession Counsellor from Mumbai, who has handled hundreds of PPF related cases in the past. He shared with me how is it possible to withdraw money from the PPF account without visiting the original branch and he has seen it work in real life for his old clients.
He was very helpful and shared many insights and his experience on this topic. I thank him for that.
Steps to withdraw from your PPF account from a different city
Before I share the steps for PPF withdrawal from a different city, I want to mention that the steps below are applicable when you have your PPF account with SBI or some other public bank like PNB, Vijaya Bank, etc.
The steps below will not work in case you have PPF with Post office, in which case you first have to transfer your PPF from post office to SBI bank and then you can take the following steps.
Step #1 – Arrange your KYC documents
The first step is to make sure you arrange all your KYC documents like
- Form C – For PPF withdrawal
- Canceled Cheque – The account in which you want to money to be credited
- Your Identity & Address Proof
- Your PPF passbook (in case it is available with you)
Do not sign these documents at the moment, because these need to be signed in the presence of the bank officials. You can download PPF form C here
Step #2 – Go to a local branch of the bank
The next step is to visit the local bank branch of the city where you reside or are present and talk to the staff there. Tell them that you want to withdraw your PPF, but it’s base branch is in some other city, so you want them to attest the documents.
They will ask you to sign on the documents in your presence and might also put their signature or seal on the documents confirming that your attestation is complete. Also, request the attesting banker to mention his/her name and signature code issued by RBI. This makes the attestation complete in all regards.
Step #3 – Send documents to Main Branch using Speed/Registered post
Once the bank staff completes your verification and attestation, it might happen that they keep the documents and tell you that they will themselves send the documents to the main branch, in which case take an acknowledgement from them which has their signature and seal, so that you have the proof that you gave the documents to local branch.
Otherwise, you yourself will have to send the documents to the base branch where you opened your PPF account by speed post or registered post.
It’s important that you use a speed/registered post so that you have confirmation when the documents are delivered. Also as post office is a govt organization, you have all the records and you can also find out information using RTI later.
Step #4 – Get PPF money credited in your account by NEFT/RTGS
Once the original branch gets your documents, they will process them and credit back your PPF maturity amount by NEFT/RTGS.
In earlier days the banks used to hand over the Pay orders or DD which was supposed to be received by a person, but now with NEFT/RTGS facility the money is transferred electronically.
So the process for PPF withdrawal is very simple as explained above, but let us see some finer details or cases now
Can I use the same process mentioned above in case of partial withdrawal?
The answer is YES. The above process is not just for the PPF withdrawal at maturity, but even in case of partial PPF withdrawal after completion of 7 yrs.
I have PPF in Post office, how can I withdraw?
As I mentioned above, the above process will work only in case you have your PPF with a PSU bank, so the first step is to transfer your PPF account from Post office to the PSU bank. The steps are already mentioned in this article. Read the comments where many people have shared how they successfully transferred their PPF accounts to PSU banks.
I am an NRI, how can I withdraw my PPF account from outside India?
If you are an NRI, first thing you should know that that you cannot extend your PPF account after it matures in 15 yrs period. I am sure most of the NRI’s keep travelling to India every year or once in a while if not every year. So whenever you visit India next time, you can follow the same process which is given above.
However, if you still want to try withdrawing your PPF from abroad, let me share you the process which is not guaranteed to work always, but it’s already tried by Priyesh on one of her NRI clients and it worked for them.
The process for PPF withdrawal by NRI
Basically the PSU bank can only process your PPF withdrawal request if your signature is attested by an authority, which can be the PSU bank itself (which will need your presence) or some other authority.
If an NRI has an NRE/NRO account in a bank (a good bank balance or relationship with a bank will be a plus), then they can follow this process
- Courier the documents to India in the city where you have the NRE/NRO account. Make sure you send these documents to a person (relative, parents, siblings etc or friends)
- Give an authority letter mentioning that you are allowing the person to follow this process on your behalf
- Ask the person to go to the bank where you have NRE/NRO account and ask them to attest these documents (mainly the signature part) . At this step you can expect the friction, because this is not a standard process.
- Once the attestation is done, then you can ask your person to visit the PSU bank for PPF withdrawal and they might accept these documents which are attested by your bank.
Note that Priyesh has done the same steps for one of her NRI client and it worked because the NRI was giving a very good premium each year to the bank and bank was more than happy to “help” the client 🙂
Why can’t you withdraw PPF from any branch?
Truly speaking I have no answer for that.
I know that with the advancement of technology, the PPF withdrawal process should be smoother now and it should be possible with a button of click, but as of now, it’s not the reality.
A lot of people still wait to travel to their base branch city where they opened their PPF and follow the process. However many investors never withdraw their PPF because they are not clear if it’s possible or not.
It was my attempt to bring this process in notice of yours so that you can at least try this and see if it works. If someone has done something different and successfully withdrawn their PPF from a different city, please share that with us in comment section and we will add it in the main article.
We would like to know if you got any new insights or not and this article was helpful or not?