The Post Office Time Deposit Account (POTD), also known as the National Savings Time Deposit Account, is one of the best-known investment schemes offered by India Post. Although the scheme is open to all individuals, it is especially popular in rural and remote areas of the country where there are relatively few banks and limited access to investment products. The Indian Finance Ministry reviews the interest rates on the scheme at the beginning of every quarter of the financial year. The rate of interest is determined on the basis of yields on government securities and usually its spread falls on the yields of the public sector.

The interest rate for post office time deposit accounts coming into effect from 1st July 2023 to 30th September 2023 is as follows*: Account Period Applicable Interest Rate: 1 year: 6.9% 2 years: 7% 3 years: 7% 5 years: 7.5%

• The above interest rates are reviewed by the Finance Ministry every quarter.

If you do not want to withdraw the annual interest, you can direct the post office to redirect it to your post office savings account, which fetches an interest of 4%. However, this is not possible in the case of a POTD with a one-year term. Alternatively, you can also choose to redirect this interest to the 5-year recurring deposit account in the same post office or bank instead of paying 12 monthly instalments. In this case, the depositor has to submit a fresh application to the office or the bank before the due date of payment of interest dues.

Eligibility Criteria: To be eligible to open a Post Office Time Deposit Account, it is necessary to keep in mind the following criteria -

1. All resident Indians can open and manage these accounts alone or jointly
2. Minors aged 10 years and above can open and manage this account.
3. A parent/guardian can open post office time deposit account on behalf of the minor
4. Non-resident Indians cannot open post office TD accounts

The following groups/funds cannot avail the benefits of post office time deposit scheme-

1. Institutional account holders
2. Trust fund
3. Regimental fund
4. Welfare fund

How to Apply for Post Office Time Deposit Scheme:

Online Process: If you have an existing post office savings account and are registered for The Indian Post Office Internet Banking Service then you can open a Post Office Time Deposit Account online.

Here is a step-by-step guideline for this:

1. Visit the Indian Post e-Banking website.
2. Use your registered “User ID” and captcha code and click on “Log in”.
3. Under the Common Service tab, click on the ‘Request Service’ option.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to initiate post office time deposit opening requests.

Offline process: Follow the following steps to open post office time deposit account offline:

1. Download the POTD application form or collect it from a post office near you.
2. To open your POTD account, submit the duly filled form and the above papers with a minimum of Rs. 1,000 at the post office.