Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) interest rate from January 2026: 8.2% rate remains

There is no change in SCSS interest rate for January-March quarter. This means, senior citizens can continue to enjoy the 8.2% interest on fresh SCSS investments.

The SCSS interest rate for the October-December quarter of FY 2025-26 was announced by the Finance Ministry on September 30, 2025. The Ministry had then also decided to keep the interest rate unchanged at 8.2%.

SCSS is a small savings scheme exclusively available to senior citizens. The scheme is currently offering 8.2% interest, which is higher than fixed deposit interest rates offered by all top banks like State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, and others.

The SCSS interest rate has remained unchanged at 8.2% since April 1, 2023. The scheme is very popular among millions of senior citizens and retirees as it offers a guaranteed periodic interest income on deposits up to ₹30 lakh.

Who can open SCSS account?

The SCSS account can be opened by a senior citizen aged 60 years or above. The scheme can also be availed by allows retired civilian employees above 55 years and below 60 years, and retired defence employees aged above 50 years and below 60 years.

The SCSS account is governed by the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme Rules 2019. It says that senior citizens can open the SCSS account either individually or jointly with their spouses.

However, in case of a joint account, the total amount of the deposit is attributable to the first account holder.

How much can you invest under SCSS?

An individual is allowed to invest up to ₹30 lakh in all his/her SCSS account. Senior citizen couples can invest ₹30 lakh each in their separate SCSS accounts.

The interest on SCSS investments is payable from the date of deposit to March 31/September 30/December 31 in the first instance, and thereafter, interest is payable on April 1, July 1, October 1, and January 1. (Read more details).

How is SCSS rate decided?

Small savings schemes like SCSS, NSC, PPF, SSY track the yields of G-secs of comparable maturities in the secondary market, according to the recommendations of the Shyamala Gopinath Committee.

The Committee was set up in 2010. It recommended considering the secondary market yield of Central Government Securities (G-Sec) of comparable maturities topped with a 0.25% spread to decide the interest rates for various small savings schemes. Accordingly, the SCSS interest rate should be determined based on the prevailing 5-year G-Sec yield in the secondary market plus 0.25%. However, the final decision to revise the small savings scheme interest rate is made by the Finance Ministry. And it doesn't always strictly follows the committee's recommendations.