No fee to be charged for updation of nominees for PPF accounts: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said no fee will be charged for the updation or addition of nominees for Public Provident Fund (PPF) accounts as the government has made necessary changes through notification.

Recently, it was informed that a fee was being levied by financial institutions for updating/modifying nominee details in PPF accounts, the finance minister said in a social media post on X.

Necessary changes are now made in the Government Savings Promotion General Rules 2018 via Gazette Notification dated April 2, 2025, to remove any charges on the updation of nominees for PPF accounts, she said.

The gazette notification has done away with the fee of ₹50 for cancellation or change of nomination for small savings schemes run by the government.

"The Banking Amendment Bill 2025, passed recently, allows nomination of up to 4 persons for payment of depositors' money, articles kept in safe custody and safety lockers," she said.

Another change in the bill relates to redefining the term 'substantial interest' of a person in a bank. The limit is sought to be enhanced to ₹2 crore from the current ₹5 lakh, which was fixed almost six decades ago.

The law also seeks to increase the tenure of directors (excluding the chairman and whole-time director) in cooperative banks from 8 years to 10 years, so as to align with the Constitution (Ninety-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2011.