The government is unlikely to raise interest rates of the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) for the April-June FY24 quarter, experts say. The interest rates of small savings are revised quarterly, which are directly linked to government bond yields and interest scenarios. For the quarter of January-March, the Centre raised the interest rates of eight of the 12 small savings instruments.
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The same was done for SCSS, too. However, another revision is not expected soon, experts say.
Replying to a query in Parliament, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary recently said that interest rates on small savings schemes are revised periodically and are comparatively better than the fixed deposit schemes offered by banks at present.
Talking specifically about SCSS, it currently offers 8 percent interest rate. The government raised the rate to 8 percent from 7.6 percent for the January-March quarter.
Here are the historical interest rates for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme:
| Time Period | Interest Rate (% annually) |
| October to December (Q3 FY 2022-23) | 7.6 |
| July to September (Q2 FY 2022-23) | 7.4 |
| April to June (Q1 FY 2022-23) | 7.4 |
| Jan to Mar (Q4 FY 2021-22) | 7.4 |
| Oct to Dec (Q3 FY 2021-22) | 7.4 |
| Jul to Sep (Q2 FY 2021-22) | 7.4 |
| April to June (Q1 FY 2021-22) | 7.4 |
| Jan to March 2021 (Q4 FY 2020-21) | 7.4 |
| Oct to Dec 2020 (Q3 FY 2020-21) | 7.4 |
| Jul to Sep 2020 (Q2 FY 2020-21) | 7.4 |
| Apr to Jun 2020 (Q1 FY 2020-21) | 7.4 |
| Jan to March (Q4 FY 2019-20) | 8.6 |
| Oct to Dec 2019 (Q3 FY 2019-20) | 8.6 |
| Jul to Sep 2019 (Q2 FY 2019-20) | 8.6 |
| Apr to Jun 2019 (Q1 FY 2019-20) | 8.7 |
| Jan to March 2019 (Q4 FY 2018-19) | 8.7 |
| Oct to Dec 2018 (Q3 FY 2018-19) | 8.7 |
| Jul to Sep 2018 (Q2 FY 2018-19) | 8.3 |
| Apr to Jun 2018 (Q1 FY 2018-19) | 8.3 |
| Jan to March 2018 (Q4 FY 2017-18) | 8.3 |
| Oct to Dec 2017 (Q3 FY 2017-18) | 8.3 |
| Jul to Sep 2017 (Q2 FY 2017-18) | 8.3 |
| Apr to Jun 2017 (Q1 FY 2017-18) | 8.4 |
(Source: Paisabazaar)
More about SCSS
An investor can park money in SCSS after attaining the age of 60 years. Also, an individual who has opted for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) is eligible to invest in the scheme from the age of 55 years. SCSS offers tax benefits under section 80C of the Income-Tax (I-T) Act.
The scheme offers a regular source of income for senior citizens.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while making Budget 2023 announcements, proposed raising the maximum deposit limit for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) to Rs 30 lakh. This will allow senior citizens to deposit more money into their SCSS account and receive a higher interest rate on their savings.
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