Fixed Deposits (FD) are deposit instruments offered by banks and non-banking financial companies, where depositor can deposit money for a relatively higher rate of interest than savings accounts.
Deposit can be made specific tenor, ranging from 7 days to 10 years and the interest rates vary for each tenor.
The minimum deposit open FD is Rs 1000 and there is no maximum limit.
Interest is accrued on Monthly / Quarterly / Calendar basis as the terms of FD. Interest will be paid at the contracted rate irrespective of change in the rates thereafter.
Senior Citizens get 0.25% extra interest rate for FD above Rs 10000.
FDs can be withdrawn prematurely albeit with a penalty of 0.50% to 1.00% (for all tenors).
FDs tend to renew automatically where there are no maturity instructions recorded at the time of opening the FD. Hence it is wise to explicitly specify to the bank whether the FD needs to be auto renewed or not.
TDS applicable for FD interest in excess of Rs 10000 per annum at prevalent Income tax rate if Form 15G/15H not submitted.
Recurring Deposit
Recurring Deposits (RD) is a fixed amount of money deposited with a bank on a regular basis, monthly in most cases.
RD Account can be opened for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 120 months.
Rate of interest applicable would be same as that of FD. Depositor can typically avail loan / overdraft up to 90% available against the balance in RD account.
There are penal charges payable when the depositors fail to pay RD instrumental for a calendar month. This can range from Rs 1 to Rs 2 per 100 of deposit.
In case six consecutive installments are not deposited, the bank can close the RD account prematurely and repatriate the balance back to the account holder.
RDs can be closed prematurely albeit with a penalty of 0.50% to 1.00% (for all tenors).
TDS applicable for RD interest in excess of Rs 10000 per annum at prevalent Income tax rate if Form 15G/15H not submitted.
