Customer Care in a Train

There is a new facility which is now available in Indian Trains. There is a customer care number on which you can call for assistance under following conditions-

a) If you need security in your bogi
b) If you need water in your bogi
c) If someone is too ill in your bogi
d) Any fault in your bogi
e) Any problem which can be registered

You just need to sms on this number- 8121281212. Assistance will surely be provided at next station/stop.

Term Life Insurance

Many people get confused with normal life insurance policy, endowment (money back policy) or term life insurance policy. Term life insurance is the purest form of life insurance. Generally, people want to save tax and the easiest way they have in mind is to take a LIC policy. They contact agents. Agents love to sell you normal life insurance or money back policy because they get more commission from it. Under 80C section you can have rebate upto 1 lacs and people pay premium upto 1 lac to save tax.

First thing to keep in mind that you only need life insurance if you have liabilities. The amount of insurance also depends on type and number of liabilities. Suppose you have a loan, your parents depend on you, your wife, your children etc. What will happen if you die today ? You need enough cover of your life so that your liabilities will complete/survive in your absence.

People mix investment with life insurance with each other. But always keep in mind that in spite of taking a Normal Life Insurance or Endowment policy, you can take PPF and term insurance policy. Endowment policy will give you 5-6% return and by paying high premium you get low sum assured. PPF will give you 8.8% return and term insurance gives you high sum assured at a low premium.

Let us take a example that two persons A and B of same age 30 years choose two different paths.

a) Person A takes a normal life insurance like Jeevan Anand for a period of 25 years with a premium of 60,000 per year. Sum assured is 15 lacs. He will get around 35 lacs at maturity.

b) Person B opens a PPF and take a term insurance for a period of 25 years with a premium of 7,000 per year. Sum assured is 50 lacs. He invest remaining 53,000 every year in PPF for 15 years. After that he invest matured amount of around 16 lacs to 10 years FD at 9% and continue investing 4,417 (53000/12) in a RD for 10 years. He will finally get around 48 lacs.

Now you can decide which one is beneficial.

Fact about PPF Account

Public Provident Fund (PPF) is a good choice for long term investment. It is opened for 15 years and after that extended to 5 years any number of times. Maximum Limit to get Income Tax Rebate is 1 Lac rupees per year and minimum amount should be 500 for each year.

You can get PPF account details at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Provident_Fund_India. There is an interesting calculator about PPF is at http://www.ratekhoj.com/ppf-calculator.php. If we plan to invest 12000 a year and we have it in a lumpsum, we should invest it between 1 to 10 April of each year to earn more interest. But if you don't have lumpsum amount then there is another idea. Open a RD of 1000 such that it will mature in the last week of March. Then you can invest the lumsum amount in April to gain more interest. Lets take this scenario and see the difference-



You can see the difference. The difference is of 5808 rupees.

Experience at Passport Seva Kendra

Passport Office has now started Passport Seva Kendra which gives you a changed experience in applying for a fresh or reissue passport. It is opening in different cities of India. I live in Lucknow. I went to Passport Seva Kendra Lucknow to update my passport.

First of all I need to get an appointment from passport website http://www.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/welcomeLink. Create a login there and then download passport application. After filling the application you can upload it or you can online fill application. Once application is filled offline or online, you can get a Application Reference Number (ARN). Then you need to take an appointment which is a very difficult task in itself. When appointment link is open (it is closed sometimes), you can try to take an appointment after 4pm everyday. The trick is that only first 700 users get an appointment and time frame is only 0-2 minutes. You have to take the appointment between 4.00 pm and 4.02 pm. First you need to match your computer clock to be accurate. Then start trying after 3.50 pm and hopefully you get an appointment.

If you got an appointment you have a appointment number. Then you will take a print out of receipt and go to passport seva kendra with all relevant documents. They were asking for one year address proof in most cases so don't forget it.

In Passport Seva Kendra, firstly you have to enter into office on your appointment time. Then all your documents were checked and a token number is allotted after waiting in the queue. If you have less documents then you will be sent back from here and you have to take next appointment. You have to pass three types of counters A, B and C before getting the acknowledgement of your application. Fee is submitted and documents were scanned at counter A. Documents checking at all counters. It will take around 2 to 3 hours for the whole process to complete. Passports were delivered after 10-15 days after this process. So, only taking appointment is a pain area. Also you can walk in without appointment but it is applied only in some cases and the walk in time is 9 to 11 am.

Smart DL in UP

Smart Driving License (DL) in Uttar Pradesh is a new concept introduced by our chief minister Mr. Akhilesh Yadav. In first phase it is started in six RTO offices namely Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Agra and Ghaziabad. Steps to make your Smart DL are-

1) Download form from http://uptransport.org/scdl.html
2) Take a printout of form and fill it.
3) Take a appointment from http://niveshmitra.up.nic.in/TimeSlotBooking.aspx
4) Go to RTO office with filled form and required documents on the date and time of appointment.

You can get the details of required documents and Fee structure on http://uptransport.org/scdl.html.

This is an initiative by our state government and we should respect it. Try to have your smart driving license today.

 

Harmful Mobile Calls

Please be aware in case of ISD (International) calls. These are those calls which come from a number which is not starting with 91. 91 is India Country Code. If you got a call from a number which is starting with 92, 93 or 99 then only by receiving this type of call your balance will be reduced. So, don't respond to those calls.

There is a way for BSNL users that they can call BSNL customer care on 1503 and report this problem if it happens to them. BSNL will try to resolve the problem with your balance and block that number to call you.

Be Aware be safe !!

Earn Money from Home

Earn Money from Home - The Truth

We see advertisements about Earn 50,000 to 1 lacs of Money from Home by doing simple work. I have decided to know the truth behind these adds, So I call one of those numbers. I have asked on phone that is it a multi-level marketting? The person on the other side says No, it is not about marketting and gave an address to come there for an presentation.

I went to the presentation, there were so many people who have come to attend the presentation. They talked about "Herbalife" which is a product based company and selling its product to us. A product which is not a medicine but a innovation which cures you from Heart problem, BP problem, Diabetes, Weight Loss, Weight gain etc. There is a registration fees of 2300 rupees in which you get shake, energy drink, CDs, Informational documents and a bag. After that you can sell product on their behalf. The same multi-level-marketting concept is there, the more you sell the more you earn. You will get 25% on the sold products.

These all are same type of schemes. If you gave them a profit of 100 rs they are happy to give you 25 rs. Very less people will get success through this process but not everyone.