MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Economic Affairs)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 31st March, 2023
G.S.R.237(E).— In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3A of the Government Savings Promotion Act, 1873 (5 of 1873), the Central Government hereby makes the following Scheme, namely:-
1. Short title and commencement.– (1) This Scheme may be called the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, 2023.
(2)It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Definitions.– (1) In this Scheme, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) “account” means an account opened under this Scheme;
(b) “account holder” means a girl or woman in whose name the account is held;
(c) “Act” means the Government Savings Promotion Act, 1873 (5 of 1873);
(d) “Form” means a form appended to this Scheme;
(e) “General Rules” means the Government Savings Promotion General Rules, 2018;
(f) “year” means a period of twelve months commencing from the date of deposit in the account.
(2) Words and expressions used herein but not defined shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act and in the General Rules.
3. Application for opening an account.– (1) An application for opening an account under this Scheme shall be made by a woman for herself, or by the guardian on behalf of a minor girl to the Account Office in Form – I, on or before the 31st March, 2025.
(2) An account opened under this Scheme shall be a single holder type account.
4. Deposits.– (1) An individual may open any number of accounts subject to the maximum limit for deposit specified in sub-paragraph (3) and a time gap of three months shall be maintained between the existing account and the opening of other account.
(2) A minimum of one thousand rupees and any sum in multiples of one hundred rupees may be deposited in an account and no subsequent deposit shall be allowed in that account.
(3) A maximum limit of two lakh rupees shall be deposited in an account or accounts held by an account holder.
5. Interest.- (1) The deposits made under this Scheme shall bear interest at the rate of 7.5 per cent. per annum.
(2) Interest shall be compounded on quarterly basis and credited to the account.
(3) The interest payable to the account holder in respect of any account opened or deposit made which is not in consonance with the provisions of this Scheme shall be payable at the rate applicable to the Post Office Savings Account.
6. Payment on maturity.- (1) The deposit shall mature on completion of two years from the date of the deposit and the Eligible Balance may be paid to the account holder on an application in Form-2 submitted to the accounts office on maturity.
(2) 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 and any amount less than fifty paisa shall be ignored.
7. Withdrawal from account.- (1) The account holder shall be eligible to withdraw maximum up to forty per cent. of the Eligible Balance once after the expiry of one year from the date of opening of the account but before the maturity of the account by making application in Form-3.
(2) In case of an account opened on behalf of a minor girl, the guardian may apply for the withdrawal for the benefit of the minor girl by submitting the following certificate to the accounts office, namely:-
“Certified that the amount sought to be withdrawn is required for the use and welfare of Miss/
Kumari…………………………………………… who is a minor girl and is alive on this………………. the day of…………………. (month),
…………. (year).”.
(3) In calculating the withdrawal from the account, 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 and any amount less than fifty paisa shall be ignored.
8. Premature closure of account.-(1) The account shall not be closed before maturity except in the following cases, namely:-
(a) on the death of the account holder;
(b) 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.
(2) Where an account is prematurely closed under sub-paragraph (1), interest on principal amount shall be payable at the rate applicable to the Scheme for which the account has been held.
(3) Premature closure of an account may be permitted, any time after the completion of six months from the date of opening of an Account on an application in Form-4, for any reason other than provided under sub-paragraph (1), and in which case the balance as stood from time to time in the account shall be eligible only for the interest rate less by two per cent. than the rate specified in this Scheme.
(4) 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 and any amount less than fifty paisa shall be ignored.
9. Agency charges payable to Department of Posts and authorised banks.- The following agency charges shall be paid for operation of this scheme:
|
Sl. No. |
Type of transaction |
Charges payable (in rupees) |
|
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
|
|
Receipt – Physical Mode |
40 |
|
2. |
Receipt – e-mode |
9 |
|
3. |
Payments |
6.5 paise per Rs.100 turnover |
10. Application of General Rules.- The provisions of the General Rules shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to the matters for which no provision has been made in this Scheme.
11. Power to relax.-Where the Central Government is satisfied that the operation of any of the provisions of this Scheme causes undue hardship to the account holder, it may by order, for reasons to be recorded in writing, relax the requirements of that provision in a manner not inconsistent with the provisions of the Act.
[F. No. 1/3/2023-NS]
ASHISH VACHHANI, Addl. Secy.
I appreciate our government’s initiative, and I especially thank FM N. Seetharaman Ji for introducing the scheme.