Sovereign Gold Bonds

Sovereign Gold Bonds-2019-20, Series-I/II/III/IV

The Sovereign Gold Bonds will be issued every month from June 2019 to September 2019 as per the calendar specified below, provided that the Central Government may, with prior notice, close the Scheme at any time before the period specified below:

Eligibility for Investment:

The Bonds under this Scheme may be held by a person resident in India, being an individual, in his capacity as such individual, or on behalf of minor child, or jointly with any other individual. The bond may also be held by a Trust, HUFs, Charitable Institution and University. “Person resident in India” is defined under clause (v) of section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999).

Form of Security:

The Bonds shall be issued by Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government of India in the form of Government of India Stock in accordance with section 3 of the Government Securities Act, 2006. The investors will be issued a Holding Certificate (Form C). The Bonds shall be eligible for conversion into de-mat form.

Applications

Application forms from investors will be received at branches during normal banking hours on the weeks of subscription. Subscription for the Bonds may be made in the prescribed application form (Form ‘A’) or in any other form as near as thereto, stating clearly the grams of gold and the full name and address of the applicant. The Branches need to ensure that the application is complete in all respects as incomplete applications are liable to be rejected.Every application must be accompanied by the ‘PAN details’ issued by the Income Tax Department to the investor(s). The Branch shall issue an acknowledgment receipt in Form ‘B’ to the applicant.The  Branchesmay guide the investors to apply online.

Date of Issue

The date of issuance shall be as per the details given above.

Denomination

The Bonds shall be denominated in units of one gram of gold or multiples thereof. Minimum investment in the Bonds shall be one gram with a maximum limit of subscription per fiscal year (April - March) of 4 kg for individuals, 4 kg for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 kg for trusts and similar entities notified by the government from time to time ( a self declaration to this effect will be obtained) provided that:

• in case of joint holding, the above limits shall be applicable to the first applicant only;
• annual ceiling will include bonds subscribed under different tranches during initial issuance by Government and those purchased from the secondary market; and
• the ceiling on investment will not include the holdings as collateral by banks and other Financial Institutions.

Issue Price

The nominal value of the Bonds shall be fixed in Indian Rupees fixed on the basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Limited for the last 3 working days of the week preceding the subscription period. The issue price of the Gold Bonds will be Rs. 50 per gram less than the nominal value to those investors applying online (presently for Retail customers only) and the payment against the application is made through digital mode.

Interest

The Bonds shall bear interest from the date of issue at the rate of 2.50 percent (fixed rate) per annum on the nominal value. Interest shall be paid in half-yearly rests and the last interest shall be payable along with principal on maturity.

Receiving Offices

Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding RRBs, Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks), designated Post Offices (as may be notified), Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL) and recognized stock exchanges viz., National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. are authorized to receive applications for the Bonds either directly or through agents.

Payment Options

Payment shall be accepted in Indian Rupees through cash* up to a maximum of Rs. 20,000/- or Demand Drafts* or Transfer Cheque or Electronic banking*. Where payment is made through cheque or demand draft, the same shall be drawn in favour of the Branch.

Redemption

i) The Bonds shall be repayable on the expiration of eight years from the date of issue of the Bonds. Pre-mature redemption of the Bond is permitted after fifth year of the date of issue of the Bonds and such repayments shall be made on the next interest payment date.
ii) The redemption price shall be fixed in Indian Rupees and the redemption price shall be based on simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity of the previous 3 working days, published by the India Bullion and Jewelers Association Limited.

Repayment

RBI/depository shall inform the investor about the date of maturity of the Bond one month before its maturity.

Eligibility for Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)

Bonds acquired by the banks through the process of invoking lien/hypothecation/pledge alone shall be counted towards Statutory Liquidity Ratio.

Loan against Bonds (Collateral)**

The Bonds may be used as collateral for loans. The Loan to Value ratio will be as applicable to ordinary gold loan mandated by the RBI from time to time. The lien on the Bonds shall be marked in the depository by the authorized banks. The loan against SGBs would be subject to decision of the lending bank/institution, and cannot be inferred as a matter of right by the SGB holder.

Tax Treatment

Interest on the Bonds shall be taxable as per the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961). The capital gains tax arising on redemption of SGB to an individual has been exempted. The indexation benefits will be provided to long term capital gains arising to any person on transfer of bond.

Joint Holding and Nomination

Multiple joint holders and nominees (of first holder) are permitted. In case of joint holding, the investment limit of -4- KG will be applied to the first applicant only. Necessary details may be obtained from the applicants as per practice. Nomination of and its cancellation shall be made in Form ‘D’ and Form ‘E’, respectively, in accordance with the provisions of the Government Securities Act, 2006 (38 of 2006) and the Government Securities Regulations, 2007, published in part III, Section 4 of the Gazette of India dated December 1, 2007. An individual Non - resident Indian may get the security transferred in his name on account of his being a nominee of a deceased investor provided that:

• the Non-Resident investor shall need to hold the security till early redemption or till maturity; and
• the interest and maturity proceeds of the investment shall not be repatriable.

Transferability

The Bonds issued in the form of Stock Certificate shall be transferable by execution of an Instrument of transfer as in Form ‘F’, in accordance with the provisions of the Government Securities Act, 2006 (38 of 2006) and the Government Securities Regulations, 2007, published in part III, Section 4 of the Gazette of India dated December 1, 2007.

Tradability of bonds

The Bonds shall be eligible for trading on Stock Exchanges within a fortnight of the issuance on a date as may be notified by the Reserve Bank of India.

Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements

Every application must be accompanied by the ‘PAN details’ issued by the Income Tax Department to the investors (individuals and other entities).  KYC Documents such as Voter ID, Aadhaar Card/PAN or TAN/Passport will be required. It may be ascertained from the investor, if he/she has made a previous investment in SGBs or IINSC-C and hence in possession of an Investor ID. If so, the investments may be made under the unique Investor ID only.

Cancellation

Cancellation of application is permitted till the closure of the issue, i.e. until Friday of the particular week of subscription. Part cancellation of submitted request for purchase of gold bonds is not permitted.

Lien marking

As the bonds are government securities, lien marking, etc. will be as per the extant legal provisions of Government Securities Act, 2006 and rules framed there under. The lien shall be marked by ourLink Cell, Nagpur/Public Debt Offices of RBI in case of financing by agencies other than the Branches.

Printing Certificates of Holding

Holding Certificate needs to be printed in colour on A4 size 100 GSM paper.
All other terms and conditions specified in the notification of Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) vide number F. No.4(2) W&M/2018, dated 27th March 2018 shall apply to the Bonds.

All Branches in India are authorized to issue Bonds.