The government has announced a few investor-friendly changes to SCSS Rules. One of the major one is about the number of times one can extend the SCSS account.
As per the latest November 2023 amendment, going forward now there will be:
No Limits on Extension/Renewal of SCSS Account
Till recently, it was allowed to extend the SCSS account for 3 years only once, after completion of the original 5-year tenure. But now, this rule has been changed. Now after completion of 5 years, you are allowed to extend the SCSS account in consecutive blocks of 3 years as many times as you want and without any limit.
So let’s say you opened a SCSS account in 2015 and it was maturing in 2020 (after 5 years) and then you renewed it once for 3-year period (2020 to 2023). Now the new rule change allows you to renew it again in 2023 for another 3 year period. And since there is no limit on the number of times you can extend, you can again renew it in 2026, 2029, 2032 and so on.
This is a useful amendment for the senior citizens.
But do note that during any of the extended 3-year periods, the rate at which the SCSS account will earn interest will be the rate of interest as applicable on the day when the SCSS account was originally completing the previous 5 or 3-year maturity period.
Further Readings –