PPF Nomination Rules 2026: How to Add, Change, or Cancel a Nominee — Up to 4, Free of Cost

Open a PPF account today and the nomination section is usually the one part of the form depositors skip — "I'll do it later." Later rarely comes, and the account sits for 15 years with no nominee registered at all. A rule notified on April 2, 2025 makes skipping this even harder to justify: nomination on a PPF account is now free to add or change, and can cover up to four different people instead of just one. Here is exactly how the nomination works, what happens when you name more than one person, and the process to add, change, or cancel a nominee at any point during the account's life.

What the April 2025 Rule Change Actually Did

PPF nomination is governed by the Government Savings Promotion General Rules, 2018 — the same framework that covers NSC, KVP, SCSS, and Sukanya Samriddhi. Before the amendment notified on April 2, 2025, banks and post offices could charge a fee, commonly ₹50, every time a depositor added, changed, or cancelled a nominee. The amendment removes that fee entirely and confirms a PPF holder can register up to four nominees on a single account, not just one. Both changes apply immediately, whether the account is held at a post office or at an authorised bank such as SBI, HDFC Bank, or ICICI Bank.

Who You Can Nominate, and How the Payout Splits

Any individual can be named a nominee on a PPF account — there's no requirement that they be a blood relative, though most depositors nominate a spouse, child, or parent. When more than one nominee is registered, the account holder specifies what percentage of the payout each one receives, and the shares must add up to 100%. If no percentage is mentioned against the nominees, the post office or bank splits the payout equally among all of them by default. A nominee's role only activates if the account holder dies before the money is withdrawn — while the holder is alive, nomination has no bearing on who can operate the account or access the funds.

When a Nominee Is a Minor

PPF accounts are frequently used to save for a child, and it's common to name that same child as a nominee. If a nominee is a minor when the account holder dies, the payout doesn't go directly to the child — the account holder must additionally name a guardian, at the time of nomination, who receives and manages the money on the minor's behalf until the child turns 18. Without a named guardian, the branch treats the claim the same as one with no nomination at all, sending the family down the slower legal-heir route regardless of the minor being nominated. Naming a guardian alongside a minor nominee costs nothing extra and is done on the same form.

How to Add, Change, or Cancel a Nomination

Nomination isn't locked in at account opening — it can be added, changed, or cancelled at any point during the PPF account's life, including during an extended block after the original 15-year maturity. The process is a physical one at the branch where the account is held; it currently can't be updated purely online through net banking at most banks.

1. Collect the nomination form from the post office or bank branch where the PPF account is held — commonly called Form 1 for registering a fresh nomination, or Form 10 (still called Form F at some bank branches) under the Government Savings Promotion Rules for cancelling or changing an existing one.
2. Fill in each nominee's name, address, date of birth, relationship to the account holder, and their percentage share of the payout — the shares across all nominees must total 100%.
3. If any nominee is a minor, name a guardian in the space provided on the same form.
4. Submit the form at the branch along with the PPF passbook; the branch updates its records and the passbook, and — since April 2025 — charges no fee for the update.

Bank-Held PPF Follows the Same Rules as Post Office PPF

It's a common assumption that a PPF account opened through a bank runs on the bank's own deposit-nomination rules — the same ones that apply to a savings account or fixed deposit. It doesn't. PPF is a Government of India scheme regardless of which institution holds it, so nomination for a bank-held PPF account follows the Government Savings Promotion General Rules, 2018 identically to a post office PPF account, including the up-to-four-nominee limit and the fee waiver from April 2025. That's a real distinction from a regular bank fixed deposit, where nomination instead runs on the Banking Regulation Act and the bank's own internal process — our FD nomination rules guide covers how that separate process works.

The Bottom Line

Nominating up to four people on a PPF account now costs nothing and takes one branch visit, yet a large share of accounts — including old ones opened well before this year's amendment — still have no nominee registered at all. If you've never checked, or if your account's nomination hasn't been updated since it was opened years ago, it's worth the short visit it takes to fix, particularly if your family circumstances have changed since. It is one of the cheapest steps available to keep your PPF savings out of a succession-certificate process.