The Mahila Samman Savings Certificate Scheme was launched by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance to provide financial security to every girl and woman in India. The Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, through an e-gazette notification issued on June 27, 2023, permitted all Public Sector Banks and eligible Private Sector Banks to implement and operationalize this scheme.
This scheme will now be available for subscription in Post Offices, and eligible Scheduled Banks. The scheme has been in operation since April 1, 2023, through the Department of Post and is valid for two years up to 31st March 2025.
The account can be opened by any woman and by the guardian on behalf of a minor girl.
A minimum of ₹1,000/- (Rupees One thousand) and any sum in multiple of 100 may be deposited within the maximum limit of ₹2,00,000/- (Rupees two lakh) in an account or all accounts held by an account holder.
The rate of interest is 7.5% Per annum. Interest will be compounded quarterly.
Maturity Period: 2 years from the date of opening the deposit.
Partial withdrawal before maturity: Up to 40% of the eligible balance can be taken after one year from the date of account opening.
The account shall not be closed before maturity except in the following cases, namely:-
• on the death of the account holder;
- On the extreme compassionate grounds (i) Life-threatening decease of the account holder (ii) death of the guardian on production of relevant documents.
- where the post office or the Bank concerned is satisfied, in cases of extreme compassionate grounds such as medical support in life-threatening diseases of the account holder or death of the guardian, that the operation or continuation of the account is causing undue hardship to the account holder, it may, after complete documentation, by order and for reasons to be recorded in writing, allow premature closure of the account.
Where an account is prematurely closed on the above reasons, interest on the principal amount shall be payable at the rate applicable to the Scheme for which the account has been held.
Premature closure of an account may be permitted, any time after the completion of six months from the date of opening of an Account, for any reason other than provided above, and in which case the balance has stood from time to time in the account shall be eligible only for the interest rate less by 2% than the rate specified in this Scheme.
In calculating the maturity value, any amount in fraction of a rupee shall be rounded off to the nearest rupee, and for this purpose; any amount of fifty paisa or more shall be treated as one rupee a
Note: The interest payable to the account holder in respect of any account opened or deposit made which does not align with the provisions of this Scheme shall be payable at the rate applicable to the Post Office Savings Account.
