Post Office Saving Schemes in India: An Empirical Analysis of Growth Trends

The Post Office Savings Bank engaged in financial services as a trust provider, promoting financial stability and savings culture. This study aims to analyse the growth and trends recorded by postal saving schemes from 2001–2002 to 2021–2022, focusing on receipts and outstandings across seven saving schemes. Additionally, the researcher attempted to compare these savings schemes using a paired t-test to determine the difference in receipts, and the growth of savings schemes was also checked using the compounded annual growth rate. The results highlighted that the Public Provident Fund (PPF) recorded maximum growth, with Kisan Vikas Patra reporting the lowest in the case of receipts. The highest outstandings were recorded by the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), whereas Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) shows the least. A neutral trend has been recorded across all the savings schemes. The comparison reveals significant differences in the saving account (SB), followed recurring deposit (RD) Account. Results suggest the preference of investors for PPF and SCSS accounts, while savings accounts and RD are found popular due to stable performance. The policymakers should revisit the design of KVP to make it more appealing and performing.