Two months on, banks still clueless about Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

MUMBAI: Nearly two months after the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was launched, bank branches are still awaiting guidelines on the small savings scheme for girls. Sukanya accounts can be opened in post offices and designated banks. While post offices have witnessed a deluge of investors and opened close to 1.8 lakh accounts in the past two months, banks remain clueless about the scheme.

Last week, the RBI sent a circular to the heads of 28 commercial banks, including three private sector banks, spelling out the operational guidelines of the Sukanya scheme but the information is yet to percolate down to the branch level. “The scheme won’t be available so soon. Come after April 15,” an executive at a state-owned bank branch in Mumbai told an ET reporter.

Another executive said since the scheme was announced in the budget, it will be available only in the next financial year. The Sukanya scheme was not announced in the budget but launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22 this year as part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign.

The budget proposes to give it tax-free status, which makes the scheme a better investment than the Public Provident Fund. The Sukanya scheme offers 9.1% compared with the 8.7% offered on the PPF.

Private banks are equally in the dark. “There is no such investment scheme. Are you sure you got the name right?” asked one executive at a private bank branch. Another was apologetic that his bank could not offer the scheme and directed us to the post office. “A representative from the post office has requested us to send interested candidates like you to them,” he said. For investors, the tardiness of the banks could mean a lost opportunity. A parent can invest a maximum Rs 1.5 lakh in a Sukanya account in a financial year. With barely two weeks remaining in 2014-15, the window of opportunity is growing smaller by the day.

The worst affected are parents whose daughter is more than seven years old. The Sukanya scheme allows investments for only 14 years and the scheme matures when the girl is 21. If they are not able to invest in 2014-15, their maximum investment period will get shortened to 13 years. Investors can, however, open an account in a post office. But that would mean getting stuck with the post office for the rest of the term.