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New Guidelines for Sukanya Samriddhi Account Regularization
The Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA) can be opened for a girl child until she is 10 years old. The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) has introduced new rules to fix accounts that were opened incorrectly in various National Small Savings Schemes through Post Offices.
In a circular from August 21, the DEA pointed out several types of irregular accounts, such as:
- PPF accounts in a minor’s name
- More than one PPF account
- PPF accounts extended by NRIs
- Small Savings accounts for minors (not including PPF and SSA)
- Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts opened by grandparents who are not legal guardians
What Happens in Specific Cases?
- Accounts Opened by Grandparents: If a grandparent opens a Sukanya Samriddhi Account and is not the legal guardian, the guardianship will shift to the child’s living parents or a legally appointed guardian.
- Multiple Accounts: If there are more than two SSA accounts for the same girl child, the extra accounts will be closed because they break the rules of the scheme.
Important Instructions for Post Offices
Post Offices must:
- Gather PAN and Aadhaar details from account holders and guardians if they don’t have them already, before submitting regularization requests.
- Find irregular accounts and let account holders know about the new guidelines through all available ways.
- Keep track of cases that need fixing to help avoid problems for account holders.
About the Sukanya Samriddhi Account
- Who Can Open: The account can be opened for a girl child until she turns 10.
- Where to Open: Accounts can be opened at Post Offices and certain commercial banks.
- Interest Rate: The account earns 8% interest per year, calculated and compounded annually.
- Minimum and Maximum Deposits: You can start with at least ₹250 and deposit up to ₹1,50,000 in a financial year. You can make additional deposits in multiples of ₹50, with no limit on how many deposits you can make in a month or year.
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