With the interest rates hiked by up to 0.4% for postal saving schemes, the Department of Posts expects a boost in deposits by at least 20 % in the next three months.
A day after the announcement of hike in interest rate for postal savings schemes, several customers seemed to have postponed their investment till October. Many of the post offices too have advised customers to wait till October 1 when the new interest rates will come into effect.
Some of the most beneficial small saving schemes are five-year senior citizens saving scheme, ‘Selvamagal Semippu Thittam’, monthly income scheme, and national savings certificate where the interest rates have been increased by 0.4 %. Normally, the rates are hiked up to 0.2 % for these deposit schemes. This time, the hike has been doubled to encourage small investors, said postal officials. While interest for savings bank account remains the same at 4%, existing customers of ‘Selvamagal Semippu Thittam’ and Public Provident Fund may too enjoy the new rates as these schemes have fluctuating interest, an official added. The interest rates have gone up to 8.7% for some schemes.
“We expect more people to invest in ‘Selvamagal Semippu Thittam’ as the initial deposit amount has been reduced from ₹1,000 to ₹250 and the interest rate is now 8.5%,” said M.Sampath, Chief Postmaster General, Tamil Nadu circle.
There may be an increase in deposits by 20-30% from October. Postal savings schemes contribute to about 50% of the total revenue of the department. On an average, the postal department earns a revenue of ₹1,050 crore in both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry per year, he said.
Welcoming the government’s move, S.Rajpandian, vice-president, Tamil Nadu Postal Agents Welfare Association said, “We will get more customers for recurring deposit scheme. Customers also opt for short time term deposits. The new rates would be applicable for investment between October and December.” He demanded that the department increase the incentive provided to postal agents and seek incentive from State government.
