Recently, the Reserve Bank of India cut the repo rate. This will result in a difference in the interest rates on deposits of various banks in the country. The Finance Ministry has said that there will be no change in the interest rates of many schemes including the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, National Savings Certificate, Public Provident Fund, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme and many others.
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is one of the central government’s savings schemes. The main objective of this scheme, implemented under the ‘Beti Padawo Beti Bachao’ scheme, is to save money for the future of girl children. Parents or guardians can open an account in the name of a girl child aged 10 years or below and invest money.
If you invest money in this scheme for the future of your children, you can get an interest rate of 8.2 percent annually. Here is information about the documents and qualifications required to open an account.
What are the qualifications for investment?
- Must be an Indian citizen.
- The girl child should not have exceeded ten years of age on the date of opening the account.
- Each account holder can have only one account under this scheme.
- An account can be opened for a maximum of two girls in a family.
In case of twins/triplets in the same family, their birth certificates can be affidavited and then more than two accounts can be opened.
The parents should maintain the account till the account holder completes eighteen years of age. Then the account holder should maintain the account by submitting the necessary documents.
How much is the investment deposit?
An account can be opened with a minimum deposit of ₹250.
The total amount can be deposited in a year at one time or in multiple installments.
The minimum deposit can be made in a financial year is ₹250 and the maximum deposit can be made up to ₹1.5 lakh.
The deposit can be made up to a period of fifteen years from the date of account opening.
If there is no minimum deposit of ₹250 in the account in a financial year (FY), the account is considered as a dormant account.
A dormant account can be revived at any time from the date of account opening up to a period of fifteen years.
An annual penalty of ₹50 and the minimum annual deposit required to be maintained in the account every year must be paid.
What are the withdrawal rules?
After completion of 1 year of account opening, half of the amount deposited at the end of the previous financial year can be withdrawn for education purposes (receipt of fee paid for education must be submitted).
Withdrawal is allowed after the account holder attains the age of eighteen years or passes the tenth standard.
Withdrawal can be made in one go or once a year for a maximum period of five years.
Can the account be closed prematurely?
If the account holder dies, a death certificate must be submitted to the post office. The account can be closed by giving the deposit and interest remaining in the account until death to the parents. The account can be closed prematurely only after 5 years of opening the account.
If the account holder is suffering from a serious illness, the account can be closed prematurely and the money can be withdrawn for emergency medical assistance.
When will the account expire?
The account will expire after 21 years from the date of account opening.
A request with a reason must be submitted within these 21 years to close the account.