In the Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme, either parents or legal guardians on behalf of their girl children can invest for up to 2 daughters aged below 10 years. The scheme can also be opened for an adopted girl child.
The government has recently given some relaxations in the eligibility norms for opening a Sukanya Samriddhi Account. This is due to the COVID-19 lockdown. According to the latest guidelines from the Postal Department, the SSY account can be opened in the name of a girl child on or before 31st July 2020, who have attained the age of 10 years during the lockdown period starting from 25th March 2020, to 30th June 2020.
This relaxation brought in by the government, during this pandemic and lockdown, is to help parents and guardians of a girl child/children who could not open the Sukanya Samriddhi accounts in the last few months. The SSY account can only be opened up to the age of 10 years only from the date of birth of a girl child.
Current the SSY account fetches an interest rate of 7.6 per cent, the highest among the Post Office small savings schemes. The SSY scheme comes with tax-free maturity and interest under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, along with tax deductions. The interest rate of this small savings scheme is subjected to change on a quarterly basis.
In the Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme, either parents or legal guardians on behalf of their girl children can invest for up to 2 daughters aged below 10 years. The scheme can also be opened for an adopted girl child.
After the girl child turns 18, the account holder can now withdraw the full amount which was initially not allowed. Partial withdrawal can also be made when the girl child has turned 18 years or has cleared her 10th class. The maximum and the minimum amount that can be deposited is Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 1,000 approximately under this scheme, in a financial year.
If you wish to open a Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Account now, presently, neither post offices nor authorized bank branches allow opening an SSY account online. You will be needed to visit a post office branch, or an authorized bank branch to open an SSY account. Having said that once an account is opened after submission of all the necessary documents, you can set the standing instructions, to be done online. With this, you can make all your future transfers online if you give standing instructions at the branch or even if you set up automatic credit to SSY account through NetBanking.
Here is how you can check your SSY account balance online:
- Apply to your respective bank and collect the login credentials of your SSY account. (Note that not all banks have started offering this facility, and only a few banks let their account holders check SSY account balance online)
- Using your login credentials, log in to the internet banking portal of the bank.
- Once you are logged in, go to the homepage, and you can check the balance there. You can also find it displayed on the dashboard of your account.
- Note that, through this process, you will only be able to view the balance in your account. You will not be able to make transactions through this portal.
