December 2022 – OneMint

Post Office Small Saving Schemes, PPF – January 2023 Interest Rates

This post is written by Shiv Kukreja, who is a Certified Financial Planner and runs a financial planning firm, Ojas Capital in Delhi/NCR. He can be reached at [email protected]

The government has announced the interest rates on Post Office Small Saving Schemes for the January-March 2023 quarter. The finance ministry made this announcement yesterday only through a notification. The interest rates on schemes like the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Monthly Income Savings Scheme (MIS), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and 1-5 year time deposits have been hiked in the range of 0.20% to 1.10% per annum.

However, interest rates on the Public Provident Fund, popularly called PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana/Account (SSA), post office savings bank account and recurring deposits have been left unchanged, leaving many of the investors quite disappointed.

Here you have the table having all the small saving schemes with their applicable interest rates and tax benefits for the quarter starting January 1, 2023:

Public Provident Fund (PPF) – Rate Left Unchanged at 7.10% – Leaving most investors disappointed, interest rate on PPF, the most popular small savings scheme, has been left unchanged at 7.10%. Interest earned on PPF is tax-free on maturity and investment up to Rs. 1.50 lakh gets you tax exemption under section 80C.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) – Rate Left Unchanged at 7.60% – Government’s pet scheme for girl child, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, has also been left untouched with interest rate fixed at 7.60%. So, the gap of 0.50% between this scheme and PPF still exists, which should keep its popularity intact.

Interest earned on Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is also tax-free on maturity and investment up to Rs. 1.50 lakh gets you tax exemption under section 80C.

National Savings Certificates (NSCs) – Rate Hiked from 6.80% to 7% – There is good news for the investors interested in National Savings Certificates (NSCs) and RBI’s Floating Rate Bonds also, which are linked to the prevailing interest rate on NSCs. The government has decided to increase interest rate offered with NSCs from 6.80% to 7%. So, RBI Floating Rate Bonds, which carry coupon rate of 7.15% till now, will carry 7.35% with effect from January 1, 2023, 0.35% higher than 7% interest NSCs will offer. Your investment in NSCs will keep giving you tax exemption under section 80C.

Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) – Rate Hiked from 7.60% to 8% – There is some good news for the senior citizens at least. The interest rate on Senior Citizen Savings Scheme has been increased to 8% from 7.60% earlier. The interest earned on this scheme is taxable for its investors and subject to TDS as well. However, your investment gets you a deduction of up to Rs. 1.50 lakh under section 80C.

Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS) – Rate Hiked from 6.70% to 7.10% – Post Office Monthly Income Scheme will also have an interest rate hike from an earlier 6.70% to 7.10% p.a. Once favourite with its investors, this scheme has become less favourable now.

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) – Tenure Reduced from 123 Months to 120 Months – Your investment in KVP used to get doubled in a period of 123 months till now. With effect from tomorrow, it will take 120 months for it to do the same. This scheme will earn you 7.20% p.a. effectively.

Our take – Though it is a tough thing to digest for the small savers, especially with PPF and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana in which no changes have been made, I think the government has done it rightly. It is a difficult task to keep everyone happy in the country and at the same time, carry out economic reforms for an overall development.

Inflation and interest rates have been going up for a while now. The government has cautiosly increased interest rates on these small saving schemes, hoping inflation to cool down at some point of time in the near future. This move will send right signals to the global investors that the government is still serious about keeping its borrowing costs and debt levels in check and removing anomalies existent in the system.

Edelweiss Financial Services 10.45% NCDs – January 2023 Issue

This post is written by Shiv Kukreja, who is a Certified Financial Planner and runs a financial planning firm, Ojas Capital in Delhi/NCR. He can be reached at [email protected]

Edelweiss Financial Services Limited is going to launch its public issue of secured and redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from January 3 i.e. the coming Tuesday. The company expects to raise around Rs. 200-400 crore from the issue.

It is going to offer interest rates between 9% to 10.45% per annum, with maturity periods ranging between 24 months to 120 months. The issue will remain open till January 23.

Salient features of the issue:

Size & Objective of the Issue – Edelweiss expects to raise Rs. 400 crore from this issue, including the green-shoe option of Rs. 200 crore. The company plans to use at least 75% of the proceeds for the repayment or prepayment of interest and principal of its existing loans and the remaining proceeds for other general corporate purposes.

Tenors & Coupon Rates on Offer – Edelweiss has decided to issue these NCDs for a duration of 24, 36, 60 and 120 months. The company is offering interest rates in the range of 9% to 10.45% per annum, with interest payable monthly, annually and on a cumulative basis.

Higher Coupon Rate for Edelweiss Shareholders or NCD/Bond holders – Edelweiss has also decided to offer an additional 0.20% p.a. to the shareholders of the company and/or the holders of the NCDs/bonds issued by any of its subsidiaries including ECL Finance Limited, Nuvama Wealth & Investment Limited, Edelweiss Housing Finance Limited, Edelweiss Retail Finance Limited and Nuvama Wealth Finance Limited. So, even if you hold one equity share of Edelweiss or an NCD of any of the asssociate companies, you will get this additional rate of interest.

Categories of Investors & Allocation Ratio – The investors have been classified in the following four categories and each category will have the below mentioned percentage fixed in the allotment:

Category I – Institutional Investors – 10% of the issue

Category II – Non-Institutional Investors – 10% of the issue

Category III – High Networth Individuals (HNIs), including HUFs, investing more than Rs. 10 lakhs – 40% of the issue

Category IV – Retail Individual Investors, including HUFs, investing Rs. 10 lakhs or less – 40% of the issue

NCDs will be allotted on a first-come first-served basis.

NRI Not Allowed – Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), foreign nationals and qualified foreign investors (QFIs) among others are not eligible to invest in this issue.

Rating of the Issue – These NCDs have been rated “CRISIL AA-/Negative” by CRISIL Ratings for Rs. 100 crore of the issue and “ACUITE AA-/Negative” by Acuite Ratings & Research for Rs. 100 crore of the issue.

Demat & TDS – Demat account is mandatory to invest in these bonds, so the investors will not have the option to apply these NCDs in physical form. Also, the interest income would be taxable with these bonds. However, NCDs taken in demat form will not attract any TDS.

Listing, Premature Withdrawal & Put/Call Option – The company is going to get its NCDs listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) within six working days from the date of issue closure. The investors will not have the option to redeem these bonds back to the company before the maturity period gets over, but they can always sell these bonds on the stock exchange anytime they want. However, liquidity remains an area of concern with such NCDs.

There is neither any put option with the investors of these bonds nor there is a call option with the company to pay back early.

Minimum Investment – The investors will be required to apply for at least 10 NCDs in this issue which makes it a minimum investment of Rs. 10,000.

Registrar – KFin Technologies Limited has been appointed as Registrar to the issue.

Application Form of Edelweiss Financial Services Limited NCDs

Note: As per SEBI guidelines, ‘Bidding’ is mandatory before banking the application form, else the application is liable to get rejected. For bidding of your application, any further info or to invest in Edelweiss Financial Services Limited NCDs, you can contact us at +919811797407

RBI’s 7.35% Floating Rate Saving Bonds

This post is written by Shiv Kukreja, who is a Certified Financial Planner and runs a financial planning firm, Ojas Capital in Delhi/NCR. He can be reached at [email protected]

Investors often seek safe-havens for their hard earned money, and nothing could be more safe than the securities which are issued by the government or the central bank of a country. It is even better if the interest rates earned on these investments are higher than some of the other investment options which are not as safe and secured as these investments are.

One such investment available to the Indian investors is RBI’s 7.35% Floating Rate Saving Bonds (FRSBs). These bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Govt. of India and are open for subscription throughout the year. RBI has given authority to the State Bank of India (SBI), other nationalised banks like Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of India and Union Bank among others, and only four private sector banks, namely HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and IDBI Bank, to accept applications for these bonds.

Here are some of the other salient features of these bonds:

Coupon Interest (Floating) & Payment Dates

Interest payable on these bonds is 35 basis points (or 0.35%) per annum higher than the interest payable on the National Saving Certificates (NSCs) which is set and announced periodically by the Govt. of India. Effective January 1, 2023, NSCs carry interest rate of 7% per annum. So, these bonds yield 7.35% per annum to its investors.

This interest of 7.35% per annum is reset on a semi-annual basis based on the fixation of interest rate on NSCs and payable on January 1 and July 1 every year. Interest gets credited to the investor’s bank account electronically.

Who is eligible to invest in these bonds?

1. A person resident in India is eligible to invest in these bonds:
* in her or his individual capacity, or
* in individual capacity on joint basis, or
* in individual capacity on any one or survivor basis, or
* on behalf of a minor as father/mother/legal guardian

2. A Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) is also eligible to invest in these bonds.

Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are not eligible to invest in these bonds. However, if the holders of these bonds, subsequent to their investments, attain the NRI status, then they can continue to hold on to their investments subject to the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) guidelines.

Investment Limit

There is no maximum limit for investment in these bonds. So, you can invest as much as you want to.

Tax Treatment & Tax Deduction (TDS)

Interest earned by the investors on these bonds is fully taxable as per the tax slab of the investor. Tax gets deducted at source while making periodical interest payments. In case an investor is not liable to pay any tax in a financial year, she/he may submit a declaration in order to avoid TDS deduction.

Issue Price & Minimum Investment Amount

These bonds carry a face value of Rs. 100, and issued for a minimum investment amount of Rs. 1000 and in multiples thereof.

Mode of Issuance

These bonds are issued only in the electronic form and held at the credit of the holder in an account called Bond Ledger Account (BLA), opened with the receiving office of the intermediate bank. However, as a proof of subscription, a certificate of holding is issued to the holder/s of these bonds.

Nomination

Investors may nominate one or more persons as nominee(s) while making their investments, who in the event of death of the bondholder(s) would be entitled to these bonds and the principal and interest payments due thereon. Even a minor could be a nominee in these investments. However, nomination is not allowed if the investment is made in the name of a minor, as such investments will have parents or legal guardians to take care of the investment in case of untimely demise of the minor investor. Investors may even make changes in their nominees subsequent to their investments.

Transferability

These bonds are not transferable, except transfer to a nominee or legal heir in case of death of the holder of these bonds.

Tradability & Collateral

Unlike tax-free and other taxable bonds, these bonds are not tradable in the secondary markets and not even eligible as collateral for availing loans from banks, NBFCs and other financial lenders.

Lock-In Period and Maturity

These bonds are issued for a period of 7 years and you cannot withdraw your investment amount before this period if your age is less than 60 years. In other words, premature encashment is allowed only if the investor is an individual and aged above 60 years.

Lock-in period for investors in the age bracket of 60-70 years is 6 years from the date of issue, while the same is 5 years for individuals aged between 70-80 years and 4 years for individuals aged 80 years and above. So, the shortest lock-in period with these bonds is 4 years before which investors cannot withdraw their money.

Our Take

Personally, I consider these bonds as one of the safest fixed income investments for the Indian investors, with no or least volatility in their principal investment amount as well as coupon interest rate. But, lack of liquidity with no premature withdrawal is its biggest negative factor for a lot of investors. If you need to invest your money for a medium to long term and don’t want to take any risks, then these bonds are meant for you. Definitely go for them!