RD Calculator for Bank and Post Office Recurring Deposits

How RD interest is worked out

Banks and the post office compound RD interest every quarter. Each instalment earns from the month you pay it until maturity, so in a 36-month RD the first ₹5,000 earns for 36 months and the last one for a single month. Each instalment grows to R × (1 + r/400) raised to (months left ÷ 3), and the maturity is the sum of all of them. Groww and Chola Securities use the same formula. On ₹5,000 a month for 3 years at 6.5% Groww shows ₹1,99,124 and this page shows ₹1,99,122.

Because the money goes in a little at a time, it sits in the account for only about half the term on average. That is why ₹1,80,000 paid in over 3 years earns ₹19,122, while ₹1,80,000 put in an FD on day one at the same rate would earn about ₹38,400. The rate is the same; the money just spends less time in the account. On the money actually in the account, 6.5% compounded quarterly works out to 6.66% a year.

The calculator also works out the account value on every 31 March, so the interest can be split by tax year. Banks report RD interest as it accrues, and that is the figure TDS and your tax return use.

Post office RD rules in 2026

The post office RD pays 6.7% a year, compounded quarterly, for October to December 2026. The rate is reviewed every quarter, but the rate on the day you open the account holds for its whole term. It runs for 60 instalments, the minimum is ₹100 a month in multiples of ₹10, and you can extend it for 5 more years, with or without deposits.

Pay by the 15th if you opened the account between the 1st and the 15th of a month, and by the last working day if you opened it later. Each month of default costs ₹1 per ₹100. Up to four defaults let you extend the maturity by that many months and pay them then; after more than four the account is discontinued unless you revive it within two months.

You can close it early only after 3 years, and then it earns the post office savings rate of 4% instead of 6.7%, even if you close it one day before maturity. After one year and 12 instalments you can borrow up to half of the deposits at 2% above the RD rate. If you only need the money for a while, borrowing usually costs less than closing.

TDS and tax on RD interest

A bank adds your RD interest to the interest on your FDs with it. Once the total for a tax year passes ₹50,000 (₹1,00,000 for a resident aged 60 or more), it deducts 10%, or 20% without your PAN, under section 393(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. Since RD interest grows every year as the balance builds up, a long RD often crosses the limit only in its last few years. Form 121, which replaced Forms 15G and 15H, stops TDS only if the tax on your total income will be nil.

TDS is an advance, not the final tax. The interest is income at your slab rate every year, whether or not anything was deducted. At 30% plus cess, 7% before tax leaves roughly 5% after tax.

Worked examples

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Questions people ask

Sources

• India Post: National Savings Recurring Deposit Account (rate, deposits, default fee, premature closure, loan, extension), read 12 October 2026
• Department of Economic Affairs: office memorandum of 30 September 2026, small savings rates for October to December 2026 unchanged
• Department of Economic Affairs: office memorandum of 29 December 2023 (5 Year Recurring Deposit 6.7%)
• National Savings Institute: National Savings Recurring Deposit Account Scheme
• State Bank of India: Recurring Deposit (tenure, penalty on delayed instalments, premature closure; updated 30 April 2026), read 12 October 2026
• Income Tax Department: Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by the Finance Act, 2026 (section 393(1) Table serial 5(ii), 393(6), 397(2)(b))

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