Introduction to Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana:
- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana aims at tackling a major problem associated with the girl child – education and marriage.
- It is focused on securing a bright future for the girl child in India by facilitating the parents of a girl child in building a fund for the proper education and carefree marriage expenses of their child.
Eligibility of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana:
- Only parents or legal guardians of a girl child can open an SSY account
- The girl child must be resident Indian and below the age of 10 at the time of opening the account.
- Only one account can be opened for a girl child.
- Only two SSY accounts can be opened by a family, i.e. one for each girl child.
- Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be opened for more than two girls in the below special cases: >>>When a girl child is born before the birth of twin or triplet girls or if triplets are born at first, then a third account can be opened.
>>>When a girl child is born after the birth of twin or triplet girls, a third SSY account cannot be opened.
Documents required for Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana:
You have to walk down to the Post Office or a bank branch where you have submitted the SSY application to submit the documents and proofs. You need to submit a physical copy of the following documents:
- Birth certificate of the girl child
- Identity and address proof of the guardian
- Medical certificate for proof of birth of multiple girl children on a single order of birth
- Other KYC documents, such as Aadhaar card, Voters ID, etc.
- Any other documents as required by the post office or banks
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Process and its future:
Opening Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account
Only one SSY account for a girl child can be opened. SSY accounts can be opened in any post office or authorized branch of commercial banks. It can be opened any time between the birth of the girl child till the time she attains the age of 10 years.
Beneficiary of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
Any girl child who is a resident Indian is a beneficiary under SSY from the time of opening the account till the time of maturity/closure.
Deposits under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
- Either the guardian or the girl child (if she has attained the age of 10 years) can deposit the amount and operate the account.
- The SSY account shall be mandatorily operated by the girl child after she attains the age of 18 years.
- The minimum deposit amount for an SSY account is Rs.250 (this amount was previously Rs.1,000), and the maximum is Rs.1,50,000 in every financial year, up to 15 years. Deposits can be made through cash, cheque, demand draft or online transfer.
Interest on deposits
- The rate of interest for the 2nd quarter of FY 2022-2023 i.e. 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022 is 7.6% p.a.
- ‘Account under default’ can be regularised within 15 years of Account opening on payment of a penalty of Rs.50 per default year.
- No interest is payable after the completion of tenure of the SSY, i.e after 21 years from account opening.
- No interest accrues after the girl child becomes a non-citizen or a non-resident of India.
- Any deposit made above the maximum cap, i.e. Rs.1,50,000 per year will not earn any interest and can be withdrawn anytime by the depositor.
Maturity period of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
- The maturity period of SSY is 21 years from the account opening or upon her marriage after attaining 18 years. However, contributions have to be made for only 15 years.
- Thereafter, the SSY account will continue to earn interest until maturity even when no deposits are made into it.
Advantages of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
- Affordable Payments: The minimum deposit required to maintain an SSY account is Rs.250 per fiscal year. You can make deposits as per your convenience up to Rs.1.5 lakh per fiscal year. The payments seem very affordable for people from all sections of society. Even if you happen to miss out on paying for a year, a penal charge of Rs.50 will be levied on the missed minimum payment of Rs.250 but the account will be continued.
- Educational Expenses Covered: You can withdraw 50% of the account balance as of the previous financial year’s end to meet the educational expenses of your girl child. This can be availed by submitting proof of admission.
- Attractive Interest Rates: The interest rate applicable to SSY accounts has always been high as compared to other government-backed schemes. Currently, the rate is at 7.6% p.a.
- Guaranteed Returns: Since SSY is a government-backed scheme, there is a guarantee of returns upon its maturity.
- Convenient Transfer: The SSY account can be transferred from any post office to a bank or vice-versa anywhere in India.
Tax benefits of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana:
In order to encourage investments in SSY, the SSA has also been provided with certain tax benefits:
- Investments made in the SSY scheme are eligible for deductions under Section 80C, subject to a maximum cap of Rs 1.5 lakh.
- The interest that accrues against this account which gets compounded annually is also exempt from tax under Section 10 of the Income Tax Act.
Situations for Premature closure:
Premature closure is allowed only in the following situations:
- Reasons for intended marriage after a girl child attains the age of 18 years, an application can be submitted between one month prior to marriage and 3 months after marriage along with her age proof documents.
- Death of the girl child on the production of the death certificate the balance in the SSY will be paid to the guardian.
- Deemed closure in case of a change in the status of girl child i.e., girl child either becomes a non-resident or a non-citizen of India. Such a status change should be communicated by the girl child or her guardian within one month of the status change.
- After completion of 5 years from the opening of an SSY, if the post office or bank is satisfied that the operation or the continuation of the SSY is causing undue hardship to the girl child (such as the death of the guardian, medical reasons of the girl child), the girl child or guardian may order for premature closure.
- For any other reasons, if the SSY is to be closed anytime after the opening of this account, it will be permitted, but the entire deposit would only earn an interest rate applicable to the post office savings bank.
