The finance ministry issued a notification requiring Aadhaar and PAN numbers for investing in post office savings schemes on March 31, 2023. This rule of mandatory submission of Aadhaar and PAN numbers for small savings schemes is part of the Know Your Customers (KYC) process.
According to the notification, subscribers who have invested in post office small savings plans must provide their Aadhaar numbers by September 30, 2023, if they did not do so when they opened the small savings scheme accounts.
Who should submit PAN, Aadhaar
As per the notification, “If a depositor has already opened an account and has not submitted his Aadhaar number to the Accounts Office, he shall do so within a period of six months with effect from the 1st day of April 2023.” The six-month period will end on September 30, 2023.
What this means is that if you have opened a small savings scheme after April 1, 2023, then you could have done it only by submitting your PAN and Aadhaar details. So, you don’t need to submit it again to adhere to the September 30, 2023 deadline.
What happens if you don’t link
In the event that PAN and Aadhaar are not submitted by the 30th of September, 2023 for current and new subscribers, the account may be suspended until PAN and Aadhaar are submitted to the Home Branch.
The following are some of the expected results if post office investments are frozen:
- Wherever interest is due, it will not be credited to the investor’s bank account.
- Individuals may be unable to make deposits into their PPF or Sukanya Samriddhi accounts.
- The investor’s bank account will not be credited with the maturity amount.
The various post office small savings scheme are as follows:
* Post office Fixed Deposits (FDs)
* Post office Recurring Deposits (RDs)
* Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS)
* Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY)
* Post office Time Deposits (TDs)
* Mahila Samman Savings Certificates
* Public Provident Fund (PPF)
* Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS)
* Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)
