April 26, 2023

Everything you Wanted to Know About Mahila Samman Savings Certificate

Summary:

Mahila Samman Savings Certificate is a small savings scheme for women investors that aims to empower them financially. It offers a fixed interest rate of 7.5% and a two-year maturity period.
Over the years, the Government of India has come up with several schemes for women empowerment, such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Bhartiya Mahila Bank Business Loan, Dena Shakti Scheme, etc. Mahila Samman Savings Certificate is the latest in this list, which aims to empower women financially.
This small savings scheme announced in Union Budget 2023 has now been launched. Read on to learn about it in detail.

Mahila Samman Savings Certificate - What is it?

Mahila Samman Savings Certificate is a one-time savings scheme for women that aims to empower them by increasing their participation in investments. It offers a fixed interest rate of 7.5% and is available only for two years, from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2025. While the minimum investment is INR 1000, the maximum investment is INR 2 lakh.
Suppose you invest INR 2 lakhs in the scheme at the end of the first year, the interest will be INR 15,000 on the principal amount (7.5% of INR 2 lakh). In the second year, you will get INR 16,125 as interest (7.5% of INR 2.15 lakh). At the end of two years, the maturity amount will be INR 2,31,125 (INR 2 lakh + INR 15,000+ INR 16,125).

Salient features of Mahila Samman Savings Certificate

Given below are the salient features of the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate:

Guaranteed Returns

This is one of the major benefits of this scheme. Being government-backed, it offers guaranteed returns. There’s no fear of loss of capital due to market volatility. With a fixed interest rate throughout the scheme’s tenure, it offers an assured payout that gives peace of mind.

Easy participation

Any woman investor can participate in the scheme, even minors. In case of minors, the guardian can open the account on their behalf.

Low investment amount

Mahila Samman Savings Certificate has a low investment amount to ensure maximum participation. As the minimum investment amount is INR 1000, it ensures women with low income can invest and benefit from the scheme.

Wide availability

The scheme is available across post offices and banks such as Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and Union Bank of India. The wide availability ensures there are multiple places where you can go and invest.

Nomination facility

The Mahila Samman Savings Certificate offers a nomination facility like any financial investment. You can nominate up to 4 persons per account and define their percentage in the final maturity amount. Nomination ensures your intended beneficiaries get the amount you wanted them to have in case you are no longer around.

Facility to open multiple accounts

Mahila Samman Savings Certificate allows you to open multiple accounts in your name. That said, there are certain conditions to it. These are:
  • The maximum investment amount across all accounts shouldn’t be more than INR 2 lakh
  • There should be a gap of minimum 3 months between an existing account and a new account

Partial withdrawal facility

There can be circumstances where you might need money. The scheme offers the facility to make partial withdrawals. However, note that:
  • You can make partial withdrawals only after 1 year from the date of account opening
  • You can withdraw only 40% of the eligible balance. So, let’s say the eligible balance is INR 1 lakh, you can withdraw only INR 40,000

Documents required for Mahila Samman Savings Certificate

You need to produce certain documents to open an account to invest in Mahila Samman Savings Certificate. These are:
  • Know Your Customer (KYC) documents such as Aadhaar Card, voter’s card, driving licence, etc
  • PAN card
  • Cheque or pay-in-slip along with the deposit amount
You need to fill out the application form along with these documents.

How to invest in Mahila Samman Savings Certificate?

To invest in the scheme:
  • Visit your nearest post office or bank offering the scheme
  • Fill out the account opening form, provide the necessary documents and the nomination details
  • Deposit the investment amount via cash or cheque
  • Get the certificate that serves as proof of investment

Premature closure of the account

Though the scheme’s tenure is 2 years, it can be closed prematurely. However, there are certain conditions for doing so. These include:
  • In the event of the account holder’s death
  • In exceptional cases of compassion such as life threatening disease of the account holder or guardian’s death
If the account is closed for the reasons mentioned above, you will get a fixed 7.5% interest rate. However, if the account is closed after 6 months from opening without any reason, the interest rate offered will drop to 5.5%.

In conclusion

For women wanting to venture into the world of investments and make a steady start, Mahila Samman Savings Certificate can be a good starting point. Happy investing!

Never miss a trading opportunity with Margin Trading Facility

Enjoy 2X leverage on over 900+ stocks

Upstox Margin Trading Facility
Apple Logo
Downloadlogo
iOS App
Google Play Logo
Downloadlogo
Android App

RELATED ARTICLES

EPF Form 5: How to Fill and Download

Organisations which have 20 or more employees need to provide EPF to eligible employees. They need to inform EPFO about the new employees who are eligible for EPF and update the details by filling up EPF Form 5 to the regional EPF Commissioner once every month. Here’s more about EPF Form 5.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) Urban 2023: Scheme & Eligibility

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna Urban, abbreviated as PMAY-U, is a flagship program of the Indian Government. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) administers this program under the prominent leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The program was first launched on 25th June 2015 with the sole mission of addressing urban housing issues in the country. The project aimed at providing all-weather pucca houses to urban Middle-Income Groups (MIG) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWA)/Lower Income Groups (LIG) by the year 2022. The scheme applies to all the urban areas in India, including Notified Planning/ Development Areas and all statutory towns as of the Census of 2011. The Government of India sanctioned a 2,03,427 crores budget to develop 123 lakh houses in the urban area. As of August 2022, 62 lakhs houses have been completed, while 40 lakh houses are under construction. The Government further received proposals from the States/UTs for 40 lakh houses during the last 2 years of the scheme, owing to which the project timeline has been extended till 31st December 2024.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) - Full Form & Login

Life as a senior citizen is hard enough without the added trouble of a lack of financial security. Aging often reduces your value at the workplace since your body and mind slow down as you grow older. Bad health is almost guaranteed as you age with the lifestyles people live these days. Add to that the extremely high cost of health care these days, and you can be assured that you will struggle to survive without a regular income, which you won’t have when you retire. That’s why it is so important to have a solid retirement plan in place. The best way to do this is to invest in retirement and pension schemes while still working. Most governments also have pension schemes available to their employees and, more often than not, the general working public. In India, the British had already installed a pension system that was followed until recently. In 1999, the central government recognized that the old system might not work anymore. To examine this issue, it commissioned a project titled Old Age Social and Income Security, or OASIS. The project was to look at the policy related to old age income security in India and develop ideas to improve it. According to the suggestions in the report given by the OASIS, the government of India came up with a new Defined Contribution Pension system which replaced the old Defined Benefit Pension System that was in place. This new pension scheme eventually came to be called the [National Pension Scheme](https://upstox.com/saving-schemes/nps-national-pension-scheme-india/) or NPS. Later, in August 2003, a new regulatory body called PFRDA was also established to regulate and develop the pension sector in India.

EPF Form 10D - Online Apply, Download, & How to Fill

EPF Form 10D is a pension withdrawal form that can be filled out post-retirement either by the member or the nominee. The eligibility to submit the form is that either the member is retired (58 years and above) or has taken early retirement (50+ years, but this comes with a reduced pension at a discount rate of 4% annually). In case the member has expired, the nominee has to fill out the form and submit it to receive a pension as per eligibility. Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) offers members various types of pension on permanent disability, widow pension, and pension for nominees. As of 1995, EPS has replaced the Family Pension Scheme (PFS) of 1971. The pension amount provided to the member as per the Employees Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provision Act 1952 depends on the salary, and the total pensionable service years the member has served. This form can be submitted offline or using the EPF Form 10D Online application on the EPFO portal.