Investors’ attitude towards post office deposits schemes - Empirical study in Udaipur district, Rajasthan

For more than 150 years, the Department of Posts (DoP) has been the backbone of the country's communication and has played a vital role to connect the whole of the country and has also provided banking facilities in the absence of banks. But over time, its role has changed and it has grown to become one of the best avenues to channel investment from even the wealthy investor and use them fruitfully in nation buildings activities. There has been introduction of several types of deposit schemes that cater to the differing needs of different classes of investors in which person has an option to invest even a minimal amount of Rs.500 per month. Investment in Post Office Savings account for a maximum investment of Rs.110, 000, per financial year is totally exempt from tax under section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The interest income is also exempted from tax under section 10 of Income Tax Act, 1961 in some cases. This has enabled them to compete successfully with the other avenues of investment available to investor like commercial and co-operative bank, non-banking financial institutions, public sector companies, etc. It is necessary for institutions offering investment instruments to study the perception of investors’ towards various investment instruments because it has influenced the saving behavior of investors since decade. The study is an attempt to identify the awareness, preferences, problem and attitudes of investor’ towards various deposit schemes offered by the Post Office among 100 respondents of the Udaipur District.