RBI redesigns Gold Monetisation Scheme
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made certain amendments to its Master Direction on Gold Monetisation Scheme, a move aimed at making the scheme more customer-friendly.
As per the revised scheme, the depositors will now be able to withdraw medium term and long term government deposits pre-maturely after the minimum lock-in period of three years in the case of medium term deposits and after five years in the case of long term deposits.
“However, there will be penalty in the form of lower rate of interest for premature withdrawals depending upon the actual period for which the deposit has run,” the central bank said in a statement on Thursday.
In the case of large tenders of gold, the yellow metal can be deposited directly with refiners wherever they have the assaying capacity, thereby reducing the time lag between the time the raw gold is deposited and it starts earning interest.
The RBI also clarified that the government will pay the participating banks a total commission of 2.5%, which consists of 1.5% handling charges and 1% commission, during the first year.
“The scheme will be reviewed regularly based on feedback so as to address any implementation issue and to make it more customer-friendly,” the RBI said.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched this scheme to bring out gold lying with households and temples into the banking system to reduce its imports.
Last week, Gujarat’s Somnath Temple Trust agreed to deposit its idle gold under the Gold Monetisation Scheme.
January 22, 2015 | 5:32pm IST.
to success.