“The Banking Amendment Bill 2025, passed recently, allows nomination up to 4 persons for payment of depositors’ money, articles kept in safe custody and safety lockers,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi: Finance Minister 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 done necessary changes through notification. 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 done 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 Rs 50 for cancellation or change of nomination for small savings schemes run by the government.
“The Banking Amendment Bill 2025, passed recently, allows nomination 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 of term ‘substantial interest’ of a person in a bank. The limit is sought to be enhanced to Rs 2 crore from the current Rs 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.
Meanwhile, retirement fund body EPFO on Thursday said applicants seeking withdrawal from provident funds online do not have to upload the image of a cancelled cheque and their bank accounts need not be verified by employers.
The move is expected to fast-track claim settlement process for nearly eight crore members and ensure ease of doing business for employers.
At present, members of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), while applying for withdrawal of funds from PF accounts online, need to upload image of cheque leaf or attested photo copy of the passbook of the bank account seeded with the UAN (Universal Account Number) or PF number. The employers are also required to approve the bank account details of the applicant.
The EPFO has completely dispensed with the requirement of uploading an image of a cheque leaf or attested bank passbook while filing online claims, the labour ministry said in a statement.
These two steps have been done away with to ensure ‘ease of living’ for EPF members and ‘ease of doing business’ for employers. These measures will significantly streamline the process of claim settlement and reduce grievances related to claim rejections, it stated.