226766 Lakh Returns were filed in first month of AY 2024-25

To most of his customers, Debasish Dutta, an LIC agent who sold an LIC policy to none other than former President and Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, advises opening a recurring deposit with any bank.

“One should deposit an amount that is slightly higher than the premium amount of the insurance policy into the RD account. If one can practice the habit, coughing up the premium amount every month won’t appear to be pinch,” says Dutta.

“The interest earned in these accounts are higher than the savings accounts and at the end of the year, some interest is earned too. Over several months, the interest might be enough to pay a monthly premium too,” adds Dutta.

“If an individual has to pay a premium of Rs 750 per month, I advise him to open a recurring deposit account and invest Rs 1,250 per month in it. Every month the premium is swept out of the account, but the money that is left in it, earns a small interest. The corpus keeps building over months and suddenly one month the entire monthly premium amount is borne by the remnant and the interest thereof,” Dutta says.

In fact, the annual interest earned on recurring deposits can even go up to 7.5-7.75% in a few banks.

The high point in Dutta’s career was selling a pension policy to Pranab Mukherjee on July 9, 2018.

Interestingly, the policy sold by Dutta was the only LIC policy that Mukherjee ever bought. “It was a pension policy and Pranab Mukherjee drew quarterly interest from it,” Dutta says.

Dutta has also been a million dollar round table member. He was also awarded Bima Ratna by LIC.

The million dollar round table is a global association of more than 62,000 of the world’s leading life insurance and financial services professionals.