SBI Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana scheme is a well curated savings-cum-investment instrument that helps in building a strong corpus for the future financial needs of the girl child. The scheme offers distinct key features as under:

• The Sukanya Samriddhi account can be opened in the name of girl child till she attains the age of TEN years
• Only ONE account can be opened in the name of the girl child; multiple accounts are not allowed
• You can open the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account in either post office or in branch of a notified bank like State Bank of India
• For opening the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account, birth certificate is a mandatory document
• One of the most important features of the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account is that the account can be opened with a minimal deposit amount of Rs. 1000. Once the account is opened, thereafter any amount in the multiple of Rs 100 can be deposited in this account.
• To keep the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account active, it is mandatory that the parent or legal guardian needs to deposit a minimum Rs 1000 per financial year.
• The rate of interest to be accrued on the invested corpus shall be notified by the government of India from time to time.
• The interest rate is calculated on a yearly basis on the accumulated corpus and is compounded to the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account i.e. the interest accrued on the principal of 1st year shall be added to the principal amount at the end of the year and this total amount shall be considered as the principal amount for the next year and the interest shall be calculated thereon.
• The maximum deposit amount under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account is capped to Rs. 1.50 Lakhs.
• Withdrawals from the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account are restricted, however one withdrawal is allowed only when the account holder i.e. the girl child attains 18 years of age. This withdrawal is allowed for meeting the expenses of the girl child-like higher education or marriage expenses.
• The amount of withdrawal allowed at the time when the account holder attains 18 years of age is subject to 50% of the accumulated corpus i.e. half of the balance amount available at the time of credit of interest in the account of the preceding financial year.
• The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account shall mature on the completing 21 years commencing from the date of opening of the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account. In case, where the marriage of the girl child takes place before completion of 21 years the account shall be closed and no further operations in the account shall be permitted.
• Only Parents or legal guardian of a girl child are eligible to open the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account
• The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account can be opened for a max. of TWO girl children; however, exemptions are offered in cases like triplets or twins provided the parents or legal guardian are able to provide supporting medical certificate from authorized medical hospital / institutions.
• The parents or legal guardian can open the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account only for girl child who are Indian residents. Kindly note, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account cannot be opened in the name of the girl child who is a non-resident Indian, even if her parents or legal guardian are resident Indians.
• In case after opening the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account, the girl child becomes a non-resident Indian, then the parents or legal guardian needs to convey the change in residential status of the girl child to SBI within ONE month. Upon change in the residential status of the account holder, the account shall be closed.
• Deposits in the account are permitted till the completion of 14 years starting from the date of opening the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account. This is the maximum period up to which contributions can be deposited in the account.
• The current rate of interest offered on the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account is 8.60% with effect from 1st April 2016.
• Premature closure is allowed in case of death of the account holder, the account shall be closed immediately or on compassionated grounds like medical emergency like treatment of life-threatening disease.
• In case of irregular payment, revival of account is necessary. For revival of the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account can be done by paying penalty of Rs 50 for every year + the minimum mandatory deposit amount i.e. Rs 1000 per year i.e. if you fail to deposit amount in the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account for 2 consecutive years, then the applicable charges for reviving the account is Rs 100 (50 Rs 2 Years) + Rs 2000 (1000 per year 2 years) = Rs 2100.
• The contribution to the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account can be done via various payment modes namely Cash / Cheque / Demand Draft / Online Transfer through Internet Banking. The mode of payment can be opted as per the convenience of the depositor.
• SBI customers can set up auto debit via standing instruction at any SBI bank Branch or through online banking channel.
• Upon opening the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account, passbook shall be given. The passbook shall bear all the details of the account holder like Name of the Girl Child, Address of the girl child, Date of Birth of the girl Child, date of opening the account and the amount deposited at the time of opening of the account. It is mandatory to retain this passbook till the maturity of the account. Thus, above are the key salient features of the State Bank of India Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account.

Following table illustrates a quick synopsis of all the details, features and benefits of the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account at a glance -

To conclude we can say, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account is one of the best investment schemes which can be utilized as saving-cum-investment tool for creating a financial corpus for your girl child. This scheme is developed to mobilize and promote parents / legal guardians’ savings towards future financial security of the girl child. Investing in this scheme ensures that ample fund is created to tackle the future financial expenses of girl child, especially marriage and higher education.