Saving Schemes

How to Set or Reset NPS iPin or Password to Access NPS Online: After you open an NPS account, the next step is that your Permanent Retirement Account Number or PRAN is generated. After this step, you can start tracking your NPS account. You will receive your contributions information through your phone number, through which you can track your account. Additionally, there’s another way you can track your account through the website. The second way to track your NPS account is through the NSDL official website. This article will find information that will provide you with all the necessary details on NPS iPin. Through this article, you will learn about what NPS is. it’s advantageous. How can you set the NPS iPin as well as the password? When should you open an eNPS account? How can you reset the NPS iPin password so that you can access NPS online at CRA at times when you forget the iPin?

What is iPin & the benefits of setting it up

The NPS is a powerful programme for all people above the age of 18 years. Starting a fund for yourself under the National Pension Scheme becomes available as soon as you reach 18 years, which is the best time to start saving to earn higher NPS Returns. The earlier that a person begins to save money in life, the better that person gets at keeping, understanding different savings schemes. Of course, more funds will be accumulated anytime later in life. The NPS, of course, focuses only on providing you with a pension fund to make sure that you are taken care of once you have finished your youthful years of employment.

You may access your NPS online via the CRA website, which is the Central Recordkeeping Agency. First, you need to go to the CRA website. Then, to log in to the CRA system, you need to generate and enter your iPin.

In today’s ever growing digitalised world, most of us hold bank accounts and thus be familiar with the concept of a PIN. PIN refers to the Personal Identification Number, and it is the passcode that you set for your credit or debit card. This PIN must be entered whenever you make a purchase or do a transaction at an ATM using your credit card or debit card.

In the same way, the iPin also exists for the security of your NPS fund under the CRA system. The difference between a PIN and iPin (IPIN) is that IPIN stands for Internet Personal Identification Number, which is used for your NPS for online banking purposes. After generating an IPIN (iPin), you will have easy access to your NPS account, including the details of your NPS account and bank account through which you have made your NPS fund. You will also have access to the nominee details with the iPin. Using the iPin on the CRA system, you can also add more funds to your NPS, all the while being granted the access to check your account statement to a maximum of the last three years. If you have any complaints or queries of any sort, these can be filed via the CRA system after signing into it using iPin.

Steps to Set an iPin for Your ePNS Account

Earlier, when you first opened an eNPS account, you would receive an iPin to the address you would have added to your documents. In the iPin, you would get your cards and important documents. This happens after you manually submit the application form at PFRDA or Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority’s Central Bookkeeping Authority. However, in the online method of eNPS, you can set the iPin online. Therefore, you don’t have to go through the process of waiting to receive the iPin after a few days. In the online method, you can set the iPin on the website. After you are done completing the prerequisites of subscribing to the NPS or National Pension Scheme, you will instantly receive an allotment to PRAN or Permanent Retirement Account Number.

After your PRAN is allowed, you should go to the official National Pension system website. On the website, you have to log in.

Next, you should click on a button that reads Set/ Reset iPin. You will find this button on the right corner of the page.

In the next window, you will see columns where you will need to fill up essential details. You need to enter your PRAN, your full name, and date of birth. The information you add to the website must be the same as your PRAN card. There are categories of details that you need to add. Some are optional, like adding your email address. However, there are some places where you will find a (*) it means that you must fill in those details. You need to enter the password twice when you are filling the form. Your password should be eight to fourteen characters and should include alphabets, numbers and special symbols. Once you fill in the password, there will be an option to generate OTP. You should click on that option.

After you click, generate OTP, an OTP will be sent to your registered number. You need to enter the number on the website to authenticate the setting of iPin.

Steps to Reset NPS Password or iPin if You Forget it

It is possible to reset the password or I-pin of your account if your account is not locked and is still accessible. If the user enters the incorrect pin or password more than five times consecutively, the account will be locked. In this case, access will not be authorised as a method to safeguard the privacy and security of the user. As a result of denied entry, the user is asked to answer the secret question, although the account may be locked. If the user can answer the question correctly, they will gain access to their account, and the password can be reset. Failure to answer the secret question will result in an unsuccessful attempt to reset the password. The user will then be directed to send in a request to reissue the iPin.

The password or the pin can be reset in two ways: via nodal office and via the ‘Generate OTP’ method. Unfortunately, the procedure via the nodal office is longer and quite tiresome.

The steps to be followed in this case include:

The user will have to visit the authorised website, which is cra-nsdl.com.

The option ‘Forgot Password’ has to be selected.

The user will then be directed to a new window where they will have to choose one of the two available options. The options include resetting the password with the help of the secret question and an instant reset pin. The user has to select the ‘instant reset pin’ option.

Then they will have to fill up the necessary details according to the PRAN card of the user. The fields or areas marked with a star (*) are mandatory to be filled by the user. The user will be required to enter the password two times for confirmation and verification on this page. The content of the password should include at least eight characters up to a maximum of 14 characters. The password must consist of alphabets as well as numbers. The password is required to be alpha-numeric which is a combination of the alphabet as well as numbers. It also needs to contain one unique character such as hashtag (#), dollar sign ($), ampersand (&), at the rate (@), percentage (%), etc.

Once the user enters the necessary details, they have to select the ‘generate OTP’ option. The OTP will be communicated to the user via their registered mobile number. This action is done to authenticate the resetting of the pin or password.

The user is then requested to enter the OTP on the website.

After this action is completed, the user can select the ‘Submit’ button, and a new pin or password will be created.

The PRAN card allows access to the user’s pension account. The I-pin and the T-pin are provided to access the pension account via the internet or the telephone. With the help of the ipin, users can gain access and receive their Statement of Transaction by logging on to the website. This procedure can be followed regardless of the method of opening the account. It can be done whether the account was opened by the Government, a private entity or by the user, online or offline. For performing the functions such as keeping the accounts, subscribers’ contributions, accessing instructions, making available regular statements to subscribers, etc., the Central Recordkeeping Agency, also known as the CRA, is required.

How to Show HRA not Accounted by the Employer in ITR: Generally, employees receive HRA, which stands for House Rent Allowance from their employers. Under the Income Tax Act, an employee has the choice to exempt HRA if he/she stays in a rented house and is in receipt of HRA. In this case, HRA paid by the employer to employee is taxable under Income from Salaries. However, it can help taxpayers in saving taxes as per Income Tax Act Section 13A.

When the HRA was not claimed, the taxable income would get added. It means that the employer would have deducted tax on that income. However, when House Rent Allowance is claimed in ITR filing then tax liability would get cut. Every financial year, the employer issues Form 16 to employees. This form involves information on the employee salary income along with TDS.

What is the Exemption on House Rent Allowance?

HRA is a stipend paid by employers to their employees for paying the housing lease. Any employee who pays rental charges for accommodation can claim HRA exemption. It is taken into consideration by the employer while calculating the cost-to-company or CTC of an employee. The HRA received by an employee is related to the amount of salary, and thus HRA rises with the increase in salary. It provides an advantage to an employee to claim a higher exemption on tax from the income tax authorities.

The amount of HRA exemption claimed by a salaried employee depends on several factors. The income tax department has specified some rules to follow while calculating this exemption of taxpayers. An employee can receive an exemption in the actual amount of HRA, fifty percent of the basic salary, and the actual rent paid minus ten percent of the total basic salary. House Rent Allowance is available for the period during which an employee stays in a rented house. So, if any employee rents the house for half a year, then they can claim exemption only for that period.

• Self-employed professionals cannot be well-thought-out for HRA exemption because they are not earning a salary. However, such employees can take benefits on the house rent expenses involved under section 80GG.
• Paying house rent to a spouse does not meet the requirements to claim exemption. However, an employee can claim on rent paid to others including in-laws, parents, brother, and sister.
• If an employee stays in a rented residential place and is paying for it, then he/she can claim the exemption. However, if they stay in a house where they do not have to pay rent, then they cannot claim it.
• One should show rent receipts to employers to allow HRA exemption. Based on these rent receipts, Tax Deducted at Source will be adjusted, which means employees do not have to pay HRA tax.
• If rent exceeds Rs. 8333 per month or one lakh per year, then an employee must present details of the landlord to get benefit from an exemption. It involves necessary details like the PAN card of the landlord or more.
• Both husband and wife living in the same rented residential accommodation can claim HRA exemption.
• One can claim the House Rent Allowance as it has no bearing towards deduction of home loan interest. It means that employees can claim deduction on home loan interest and HRA as well.
• An employee should actually pay the rent to claim HRA exemption. The benefit of tax exemption would not be available if rent is due but unpaid.

When does the Employer Offer Exemption on HRA?

According to Income Tax Act, the employer has to deduct tax from the salary of employees every month. Additionally, employers have to deposit the tax with the govt within seven days of the month. They have to file the TDS returns at the end of every quarter of a year. TDS rules are strict, and the employer can face severe consequences due to non-deposition or non-deduction of tax.

That is why; employers asked the statement of employers for tax deductions at the starting of the financial year. It helps them to compute according to the proposed investments and deduct tax accordingly. Employees must submit rent receipts or any other proof of payment to get exemption on HRA. In case if any of the employees fail to submit proofs then they can fill following exemptions while filing ITR:

• Tax Exemption on HRA
• Anyone who made payments for any deductions covered under section 80C or purchased NSC certificates can claim it while filing the return.
• If any employee has a bill for a preventive health check-up, then he/she can claim it and get at most Rs. 5000 per month.

The total exemption claimed under Section 80GG is quite less than the potential exemption for employees receiving accounted HRA from employers. To claim an exemption under this section, employees should pay rent for accommodation and not receiving any HRA from the employer. Any taxpayer who owns house property or whose spouse owns it is not eligible to claim HRA exemption.

How Can Employees Show HRA Not Reported by Employer in ITR?

If for any reason, the employer did not consider the submitted rent receipts then employees can claim them while filing ITR. More TDS gets removed from the salary if the employer does not account for House Rent Allowance. It involves changes in HRA calculation, filing the salary details with HRA modifications, and checking if a refund is payable.

HRA Calculation: To calculate HRA at least one of the following should be available as a deduction:

• HRA acquired by an employee
• 50% of salary or 40% of basic salary. The basic salary is the sum of basic pay, commission based on fixed percentage on turnover, and Dearness Allowance. It ignores all other requisites or allowances.

• Lease paid minus 10% of taxpayer’s basic salary
• Number of months for which employees paid rent

How to Claim House Rent Allowance Not Accounted in ITR 1?

There is only one field to fill Income from Salary in ITR 1. So, taxpayers have to fill in Gross Salary on Form 16 for the Income Chargeable field. It involves all allowances, deductions, and more. To claim the HRA is not considered, an employee can subtract the HRA exemption amount calculated from the Gross Salary and enter it as Income from Salary. Moreover, there is no need to submit any investment or deduction proofs while filing ITR to the Income Tax Department.

How to Claim House Rent Allowance Exemption While Filing ITR?

Once the employee has considered the amount of HRA exemption to claim from income tax liability, they should claim it while filing income tax returns. The taxpayer should choose the form correctly while filing the income tax returns. After choosing the correct form, it is ITR-1 in most cases, the employee should enter the details ad required. The taxpayer has to enter the basic salary, which does not involve prerequisites and allowances. They should enter the number of unexempted allowances. The employee has to enter the non-exempt part of House Rent Allowance and add that to any other non-exempted allowances.

In the form, an employee has to mention the amount of House Rent Allowance, which they are claiming as an exemption. While filing the ITR-1 on the website of the Income Tax Department, the taxpayer should click on the Taxes Paid and Verification. Under this section, they will find an option of ‘Exempted Incomes’. It involves the House Rent Allowance option in which the employee has to enter the exempt portion of HRA.

Conclusion on How to Show HRA not Accounted by the Employer in ITR

The exemption on HRA offered by the Income Tax Department is a benefit to several salaried workers across the country. With the rising cost of living and increasing rent, this exemption is helpful to employees. However, the taxpayer should be mindful of the crucial conditions and must fulfill to become eligible for claiming the HRA benefit.

How to Close Credit Card?: If you use a credit card, it means that you will be aware of the annual fees that you need to pay for being a holder of the card. Thus, even if you simply stop using the credit card, you will still be charged that annual fee. The same also counts for if you merely destroy or cut up your credit card (which is a practise that most of us partake in once we finish using a card) – the fee will still be charged to you. Now, the reason behind this is that unless you have your credit card closed by the bank that issued it to you, it will still remain on your account. That’s right – you have to get your credit card account closed, and not rely on it going out of use when you stop using it. Unfortunately, this process is not as simple as that.

How to Effectively Close Your Credit Card

What you need to know about effectively closing your credit card is that it does not automatically happen when you destroy your credit card or stop using that. Even if there is no physical card left, you are still a cardholder until and unless you inform the bank that you would like to close your credit card. There is a process that goes behind credit card closure, which will be thoroughly explained to you.

In general, different banks follow different procedures to close a credit card account. Let’s take a look at the process for credit card closing in the main banks in India, which are:

• State Bank of India (SBI)
• HDFC Bank
• HSBC Bank
• Axis Bank
• ICICI Bank
• IndusInd Bank
• Kotak Mahindra Bank

These are the banks whose credit card closure processes we will look at. For information about other banks, please check their respective websites to find the process listed out.

Cancelling a State Bank of India (SBI) Credit Card

SBI is the largest bank in India and there are 2 ways in which you can cancel your credit card here – you can either write to the bank or you can call the bank helpline number.

In Writing

• Write a letter mentioning the following things:
  • Your details (full name, address and contact information)
  • Credit card number
  • That you want to cancel your credit card
  • DO NOT mention CVV and PIN.
• Mail the letter to this address: SBI Card, PO-Bag 28, GPO, New Delhi, 110001.
• Cut your credit card which you have requested cancellation for, diagonally.
• SBI will send you a letter in which they confirm the date that your card will be cancelled.

Via Phone Call

• Call the number 1860-180-1290 and give them your credit card number, name, and other details the SBI representative will ask you, and of course, mention that you wish to cancel your credit card.
• The representative will give you a reference number. Please note down this number and keep it with you carefully.
• Once again, SBI will send you a letter confirming the date of cancellation for your credit card.

Cancelling an HDFC Bank Credit Card

The process for closing an HDFC Bank credit card is fairly simple – here it is:

• Download the Credit Card Closure Form from here.
• Print out the form and fill it in with the relevant details.
  • DO NOT put details like PIN and CVV (it does not ask for these details in any case).
• Cut up the credit card you wish to cancel into small pieces and put the filled-in form and the cut-up credit card into a single envelope, and mail it to this address: The Manager, HDFC Bank Credit Cards Division, PO Box 8654, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600041.
• Within 7-10 days, your request for closure will be processed.

Cancelling an HSBC Bank Credit Card

There are three ways in which you can cancel your HSBC Bank credit card:

• In Writing: You may go into any branch of HSBC Bank and put in a written request for the closure of your credit card account.
• Online: Closing your credit card remotely is also possible. All you have to do is sign into the HSBC online portal with your registered user ID and password and then submit the credit card closure request.
• Over the Phone: You call up either 1800-267-3456 or 1800-121-2208 and provide your full name and credit card number, and tell the HSBC representative that you would like to close your credit card.
• You are required to cut up your credit card into pieces after sending in your request for cancellation through either of the 3 available methods.

Cancelling an Axis Bank Credit Card

Either of the following processes can be used to cancel a credit card issued to you from Axis Bank:

• In Writing: You may write to either premium.cards@axisbank.com or creditcards@axisbank.com and request the closure of your credit card by providing your details, such as your name, address, credit card number, etc. DO NOT share your CVV or PIN.
• Via Phone Call: You may call either 1800-209-5577, 1800-233-5577 or 1800-103-5577 to put in a request for the cancellation of your credit card.

Cancelling an ICICI Bank Credit Card

Here is the process through which you can cancel your ICICI credit card:

• Put in a request for cancellation via ICICI online banking.
  • This will ask for your credit card number, contact number, email address, the reason for cancellation, the city in which you live, and the details of any add-on credit cards to the main credit card.
• Within 3-5 business days after you put in your request for cancellation of your ICICI credit card, a representative from the bank will call you on your provided contact number to confirm that you’d like to cancel your credit card.
• Once confirmed, within the next 7 business days, your credit card will be closed.
• If you are unreachable, i.e. the representative has tried to contact you but you have been unresponsive or unavailable, your credit card will be closed anyway.

Cancelling an IndusInd Bank Credit Card

There are two ways to close your IndusInd Bank credit card, which are listed as follows:

• In-Person: You may head to an IndusInd Bank branch that is nearest to you and put in a request for the termination of your card. You will receive confirmation that your request is being processed by the bank in the next few days.
• Via Phone Call: You may call up the IndusInd helpline number, 1860-267-7777, provide the relevant details to the bank representative on the phone, and your request for termination of your card will be processed within the next few days.
• Cut your credit card into pieces once you have put in the termination request.

Cancelling a Kotak Mahindra Bank Credit Card

Use any of the following processes to close your Kotak Mahindra Bank credit card:

• Via Phone Call: You can call the Kotak Mahindra Bank customer care number, which is 1860-266-0811 from where on, the bank representative will guide you as to how you should go about the same.
• In Writing: Send a letter to any of the bank branches of Kotak Mahindra Bank stating your name, address, credit card number, and that you would like to close your credit card. After this, the process will be taken over by the bank itself and your card will be cancelled.
• Cut your card diagonally once you have put in your request for cancellation of your credit card.

Things to Know and Do Before Closing Your Credit Card

Things to do before closing your credit card:

• Redeem your reward points which you will have accumulated over time and can be used to buy a variety of goods and services. This is accredited money that may go to waste if you do not first redeem your points.
• Clear all your outstanding payments. This is necessary before the cancellation of the request, and if not done, the bank can straight deny or reject your request (that is if you do not clear your outstanding payment even after repeated requests from the bank).
• Cancel any automatic payments which are linked to your credit card to prevent the delay of your cancellation process.
• Check your credit statement just to confirm that everything is in order and there are no inconsistencies in the statement.

Things to know before closing your credit card:

• Know that when you close your credit card, if there are any add-on credit cards linked with yours, those will also be cancelled. This is important because getting another credit card is not an easy job.
• Another important thing to know before closing your credit card is that doing so can negatively impact your credit score. This is because while you have a credit card, your credit capacity is higher, and it reduces when you cancel a credit card, which is seen at the bureau of credit as a reduction in your spending capacity or an increase in your expenditure. Be sure to check your credit report once your credit card has been cancelled.
• The bank usually gives you a small window between the cancellation of your credit card and the time given to you to redeem your reward points. After this window, the points will lapse and the bank cannot be held responsible.

Conclusion on How to Close Credit Card?

All in all, it is important to cancel a credit card rather than just stop using it altogether. There is a proper process that goes behind the cancellation of a credit card. Different banks use different processes to cancel credit cards, so be sure to check the methods mentioned above. If your bank has not been mentioned on this page, be sure to go to the website of your bank to check how to go about the closure of your credit card.

Some things to keep in mind before closing your credit card include checking your credit statement, clearing all your outstanding payments, redeeming all your reward points before they lapse, and cancelling any automatic payments linked to this credit card. Also, you should be aware that there is a specific window given by the bank to redeem your points before they lapse. Also, any add-on credit cards you may have will be cancelled when you cancel the primary one. Lastly, you must check your credit report after your cancellation goes through to see how your credit score has been impacted.

How Much EPS Pension will you get With EPS Pension Calculator: EPS or the Employee Pension Scheme is a savings plan for which money is put forth by your employer into an account every month from your salary. This is the fund that provides different kinds of pension, which are retirement pension, widow pension, disablement pension and lastly, pension for nominees. This was started by Employee Provident Fund Organisation and its conception dates all the way back to 1952. The regulations which are followed by EPS and its sister saving programmes EPF (Employee Provident Fund) and EDLIS (Employee Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme) were decided in 1995. The same can be found on the website for EPFO if any other details are required.

What is the Employee Pension Scheme?

The Employee Pension Scheme or EPS is an amount that is taken from the monthly salary of all employees working in companies affiliated with the EPFO. About 8.33% of the employee’s salary goes into this pension fund. Before October 2014, the regulations stated that 8.33% of a salary up to that of Rs 6500 per month may be taken. This means that a value that would not exceed Rs 541 per month would go into the EPS. As of October 2014, this regulation was changed so that 8.33% of Rs 15000, i.e. Rs 1250 is the maximum value that can go into Employee Pension Scheme per month. One important thing to remember about the Employee Pension Scheme is that you do not avail any interest on this fund – you will receive the amount as it is when you attain retirement at the age of 58 years.

Conditional Pension with EPS

There are four different situations in which you may gain access to the funds in your Employee Pension Scheme.

• Superannuation: This is when an employee reaches the age of 58 years and is entitled to his or her provident fund, including the EPS, EPF and EDLIS. The employee is required to have worked a minimum of 10 years by this time. With superannuation pension, employees can continue working out of their own choice, but cannot have any further additions to the EPF, EPS and EDLIS.
• Early Pension: This is also called early superannuation and employees cannot continue to work once this has been availed. To be eligible for Early Pension, the employee must have worked for a minimum of 10 years and should be between the ages of 50 and 58 years.
• Permanent Total Disablement Pension: If an employee happens to have some kind of accident or becomes very sick, which deems him or her to become totally and permanently disabled at any time and cannot carry forth work, he or she is entitled to this kind of pension.
• Upon the death of the employee: There can be many different kinds of situations here. The death can be either while the employee is working, or after the employee has retired. Either way, the employee is required to have worked for a minimum of 1 month before the death. The following are the situations that can arise upon the timely or untimely death of the employee:
  • If the employee is married without children: The pension goes to the spouse as a widow pension or widower pension.
  • If the employee is married with 1 or 2 children: The pension goes equally to the spouse and the two children.
  • If the employee is married with more than 2 children: The pension goes to the spouse and 2 children under the age of 25 years. The next child will get the pension when the 2 older children cross the age of 25 years.
  • If the employee is unmarried: The pension will go to the nominated person(s). This is called nominee pension.
  • If the employee does not have a nominee: The pension will go to the parents, with it going to the father first, then the mother (in case the father deceases).

How to Calculate How Much EPS Pension You Will Get?

It must be kept in mind that EPS can only be received as a pension if the employee has worked for a period of more than 10 years. If the employee has worked for less than 10 years, the EPS can be withdrawn normally, as mentioned before.

There are 2 situations to keep in mind here: If you started working before 15th November 1995, and if you started working after 15th November 1995.

For Employees Who Started Working Before 15th November 1995

There are 3 components to calculating EPS for people who started working before November 15th 1995, which are:

1. Past Service: The number of years of service of the employee up until 15th November 1995.
2. Pensionable Service: The number of years of service from 16th November 1995 onwards.
3. Proportionate Reduction: This is when the past service is less than 24 years & and also when the past service and pensionable service added together is less than Rs 500.

The formula to calculate EPS pension is as follows:

Total EPS after 10 years of work or more = Past Service + Pensionable Service – Proportionate Reduction

For Employees Who Started Working After 16th November 1995

This will only include the Pensionable Service benefit which has been mentioned above. The formula to calculate this is as follows.

EPS pension = (average salary x months of service) / 70

For example, if the average salary is Rs 15000 per month, person X will be contributing Rs 1250 of this per month to her EPS. Person X has worked for 14 years starting in the year 2000 and retiring in 2014. Thus, the EPS pension which person X will be able to avail will be the following:

EPS pension of person X = (15000 x 14) / 70 = 3000

The EPS pension of person X upon retiring after 14 years of service will be Rs 3000 per month.

We need to keep in mind that if an employee has been in service for 20 years or more, the EPS pension will include a bonus of 2 extra years’ worth of the average salary.

For example, if employee Y has worked for 20 years at the average salary of Rs 14000, here’s how her pension will be calculated:

EPS pension of employee Y = [14000 x (20+2)] / 70 = 4400

Thus, the EPS pension of employee Y will be Rs 4400 per month.

The last thing to note here is that if the salary exceeds Rs 15000, for the purpose of the EPS, the salary will remain maximised at Rs 15000.

For example, the average salary of an employee is Rs 24000 and they have worked for 14 years. The maximum will be taken as Rs 15000 for this purpose (the remaining money will not be touched, it will go to the employee as the monthly salary). Looking at the above equation, the pension will be Rs 3000 a month, even if the salary is higher.

Some Things to Know about EPS

The maximum pension that can be collected from a salary in a month is Rs 3250, meaning that no matter how high your salary, this is the maximum that will be taken from it monthly in contribution towards your EPS. The minimum duration for which employees are eligible for pension is after working for 10 years, and the maximum duration for the calculation of EPS is 35 years. The entire contribution of 8.33% to the EPS is made by the employer to the employee’s EPS account. While you are only eligible for pension if you have worked for 10 years, if it so happens that you haven’t worked for that many years, you can withdraw the EPS amount as a regular savings deposit. According to the maximum amounts of EPS monthly contributions and also the maximum years of service, the highest pension that one may avail is Rs 7500 per month (which would amount to Rs 90000 per annum).

Conclusion

The EPS programme is a purposeful method of allowing people to save for their future. Pension funds are incredibly important because we never know what will happen. This kind of fund is important because it takes straight from your monthly salary and the employee need not do much or worry much about saving. It has a great plan for all employees in companies so that they do not need to worry about their futures at all.

Submit LIC NEFT Form for Faster Settlement: For ensuring faster credit of the policy money with higher privacy and security, L.I.C. India assures creating all the payments, including the Maturity, Survival benefits, Loan, Pension payments, surrenders, group schemes, etc., to direct the bank account of the beneficiary or the policyholder. All the valued policyholders, annuitants, claimants, and master policyholders are advised to provide their bank account details after downloading the policy e-payments NEFT mandate or the P&GS mandate form.

This article contains a brief description of the NEFT form of LIC, its advantages, the advantages of using this form, and other details.

LIC NEFT

For ensuring a faster credit of the policy money with extended privacy and security, L.I.C India creates all the payments directly to the bank account of the beneficiary or the policyholder. This became effective from 11th October 2011 and is following the Indian government’s transparency drive. You must submit the NEFT mandate along with the required enclosures for settling the payments under your LIC policy via NEFT. LIC will not settle the payment of the policy in other payment modes like a cheque.

Furthermore, the annuitants, policyholders, master policyholders, and the claimants must provide the bank account details after downloading the policy e-payments NEFT mandate form or the Pension and Group Scheme (P&GS) mandate form. The wholly filled mandate forms must be submitted to the branch office that serves at least one of the policies listed in the mandate. The P&GS master beneficiaries, policyholders, or the annuitants must complete the mandate form and then hand it over to the servicing unit of P&GS.

Submission of LIC NEFT

Before the submission of the LIC NEFT form, you must check the following:

• The account of the annuitant or the policyholder must be operational at the time of the policy payment’s receipt.
• The name of the claimants or the policyholders under the policy must match the name mentioned on the bank account; else, it will be rejected.
• Before the mandate form’s submission, the claimant or the policyholder must confirm that it is NEFT enabled from the bank.
• The FEMA regulations guide the NRI accounts. LIC decided to exclude the NRI accounts for the fund transfers. Therefore, the policyholders and the annuitants must not submit the details of their NRI account.
• After submitting all the NEFT details, if any changes occur in the bank details, then fresher mandate forms must be submitted.

Suppose you receive the annuity payments via ESC mode. In that case, you must choose the payments by NEFT after submitting the mandate or continue receiving the annuity payments in the existing ECS mode.

One mandate or NEFT form is used for over six different policy numbers of the same policyholder.

• All the details mentioned in the enclosed mandate form must be precisely filled with care.
• The completed mandate for NEFT must be sent over to the LIC branch, and it must serve at least one of the policies listed in the mandate.
• The claimant or the policyholder must also submit a cancelled blank cheque leaf with the name and the account number printed over it. If the cheque leaf does not have the printed name and account number, then a photocopy of the passbook’s front page where all the bank account details are mentioned must be submitted along with the cancelled cheque leaf.
• If the bank account does not get the credited amount within two days of the due date, you must contact the branch where you submitted the NEFT mandate.
• After submitting the NEFT mandate, you will receive an SMS or an email from LIC about the NEFT updation.

The NEFT mandate form can be downloaded from the LIC website. It requires the bank details and the IFSC code, the policy number, email and the mobile number. It must be attached with the cancelled cheque leaf before sending it to the serving branch.

NEFT

NEFT refers to a nationwide system facilitating the transfer of funds from one account of any bank branch to another bank branch account. RTGS or NEFT is used for fund transfers to other banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) operates the system. Almost all the banks across India support NEFT, but you can still confirm it with your branch and bank at the official website of RBI.

Speed appears to be the most significant benefit of electronic fund transfers, mainly the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) or the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT). For a cheque, it usually requires 2 to 3 days to get clear. However, in the case of electronic transfers, money gets transferred directly from the sender’s bank account or the remitter’s bank account to the receiver’s bank account on the same day. There are no added costs for receiving the funds to any bank account via NEFT, but some minimal charges are applied if you transfer funds from your account.

Advantages of NEFT for the Policyholders or the Annuitants

• The claimant or the policyholder will receive credits in his account on the payment due date despite the location of his bank.
• NEFT also ensures a faster and secure payment mode.
• No extra charges apply to the claimant or the policyholders.
• Email and SMS alerts might be provided wherever the policy payment is made to the claimant’s account or the policyholder through NEFT.
• Each LIC payment done through NEFT will create a Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) Number. If any problem occurs in credit to the account of the claimant or the policyholder, he/she can confirm the bank by quoting this received UTR number. Thus, it becomes effortless to track any transaction of NEFT using this UTR number.

Depreciation As Per Companies Act: Depreciation, as per the companies acts 2013, is “ Depreciation is the systematic allocation of the depreciable amount of an asset over its useful life. The depreciable amount of an asset is the cost of an asset or another amount substituted for cost, less its residual value”.

Depreciation is calculated for two reasons:

• Accounting- It covers two sides, firstly, decrease in the value of assets and allocation of the cost of help to the useful life of assets.
• Taxation-It refers to the reduction in net taxable income to reduce the amount of tax payable.

Methods to Calculate Depreciation as Per Companies Act, 2013

Straight Line Method

Straight-line depreciation is a method for calculating the value of depreciation of a fixed asset over a period of time. In this method, a constant rate of depreciation is taken for a particular asset. Depreciation is calculated for a specific asset for a year and then the same amount is deducted every year.

Written Down Value Method

Written down value depreciation is a method in which a constant rate of depreciation is applied to the net book value of assets each year, therefore more depreciation expenses in the early years of the life of the asset and less depreciation in the later years of the life of the asset.

Schedule II Of The Companies Act 2013

Depreciation as per companies acts 2013 requires an asset to be depreciated over its useful life whereas the old Schedule XIV of the companies act 1956 which requires minimum rates of depreciation to be provided by a company. According to Section 123 of the companies act 2013, depreciation will be calculated as per Schedule II and for the assets which have been bought into force from 1 April 2014.

The useful life of an asset is the period for which an asset is expected to be available to be used by an entity. Over here, depreciation holds the word amortization.

The date of purchase is very important to calculate the remaining useful life of the asset as of 1.4.2014. Existing assets are depreciated over the remaining useful life as of 1.4.2014.

Transitional Effect of Schedule II

The important factor to be shown in the books of account is the effect of this transition on 1st April 2014. According to Note 7 to part C of Schedule II from the date given the carrying amount of the asset as of that date will be:
Depreciated over the remaining useful life of the asset. The residual value will be recognized in the opening balance of the retained earnings where the remaining useful life of an asset is nil.

There are two scenarios for the assets as of 1st April 2014,

Asset’s remaining useful life as per Schedule II is nil: In this case, the carrying amount has to be adjusted in the opening balance of the retained earnings in the balance sheet after keeping the residual value.

Asset’s remaining useful life is as per schedule II is not nil: In this case, we continue depreciating the balance as of 1 April 2014 over the remaining useful life after recalculating the amount of depreciation. So, in that case, no effect of restating the carrying amount will be required to be given.

Method of Calculation of Depreciation as per Companies Act 2013

Rate of Depreciation under Written down value method

R = ( 1- n * s/c)* 100

Where R = Rate of Depreciation(in %)

n = Useful life of the asset (in years)

s = Scrap value at the end of the useful life of the asset

c = Cost of the asset

The depreciation rates applicable to some of the assets, if the asset is purchased on or after 1st April 2014 and useful life is considered as given in companies act 2013 and residual value as 5% is given below in the table.

Depreciation Rate as Per Companies Act for Some Assets

Nature of assets	Useful life	Rate (SLM)	Rate (WDV)
Buildings
Building (other than factory buildings) RCC frame structure	60	1.58%	4.87%
Building( other than factory buildings) other than RCC frame structure	30	3.17%	9.50%
Factory buildings	30	3.17%	9.50%
Fences, walls, tube wells	5	19.00%	45.07%
Other (including temporary structure)	3	31.67%	63.16%
Bridges, culverts, bunkers	30	3.17%	9.50%
Roads
Carpeted roads
Carpeted roads-RCC	10	9.50%	25.89%
Carpeted roads- other than RCC	5	19.00%	45.07%
Non-carpeted roads	3	31.67%	63.16%

Furniture and fittings
General Furniture and fittings	10	9.50%	25.89%
Furniture and fittings used in hotels, restaurants and boarding houses, schools, colleges and other educational institutions, libraries, welfare centres, meeting halls, cinema halls and theatres and circuses and furniture and fittings let out on hire for use on the occasion of marriages and similar functions.	8	11.88%	31.23%
Motor Vehicles
Motorcycles, scooters and other mopeds	10	9.50%	25.89%
Motor buses, motor lorries, motor cars and motor taxies used in a business of running them on hire	6	15.83%	39.30%
Motor buses, motor lorries, motor cars and motor taxies other than those used in a business of running them on	8	11.88%	31.23%
Motor tractors, harvesting combines and heavy vehicles	8	11.88%	31.23%
Electrically operated vehicles	8	11.88%	31.23%