The government has taken steps to make the life easier for small savers and also ensure the motto of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’.
Steps taken to ease the life of small savers are
- It proposed the Government Savings Promotion Act by merging the Public Provident Fund (PPF) Act of 1968, the Government Savings Banks Act of 1873 and the Government Savings Certificates Act of 1959. The move does not take away any benefits but it aims to make the process of implementation easier.
- The new act extends the benefits to the subscribers. Under the PPF Act an account cannot be closed before completion of five financial years. The proposed act enables the account holder to prematurely close the by introducing provisions through a specific scheme notification.
- The benefits of premature closure of Small Savings Schemes (SSS) may now be introduced to deal with medical emergencies, higher education needs, and so on.
- Under the small saving scheme the investments are made by the guardian on behalf of the minors. The new act also provides guardian the associated rights and responsibilities.
- TO encourage the savings by children the bill provides for allowing the deposits by the minors.
- To increase the ease of implementation the bill defines the right of nominees.
- The proposed law allows the government to put in place a mechanism for redressal of grievances and for amicable and expeditious settlement of disputes relating to small savings.