News6 October 2026By BlinkMoney Editorial

Small Savings Rates Unchanged for October-December 2026: PPF at 7.1%, NSC at 7.7%, SSY and SCSS at 8.2%

The Finance Ministry kept all small savings scheme rates unchanged for 1 October to 31 December 2026, so savers opening accounts in the quarter continue at second-quarter rates.

The Ministry of Finance announced on 30 September 2026 that interest rates on small savings schemes will remain unchanged for the third quarter of FY2026-27, covering 1 October to 31 December 2026. For a saver, the practical effect is continuity: deposits opened in that quarter earn at the same notified rates that applied from 1 July to 30 September 2026, with no higher rate to wait for inside the quarter.

What was announced and when

The announcement date, the effective period, and the status are three separate facts. The Department of Economic Affairs issued Office Memorandum F. No. 1/4/2019-NS dated 30 September 2026, stating that rates for the quarter starting 1 October 2026 and ending 31 December 2026 shall remain unchanged from those notified for the second quarter, 1 July to 30 September 2026. The Department of Posts circulated the decision through its savings-bank order dated 30 September 2026 for display at post offices. As of the reporting cutoff of 6 PM IST on 6 October 2026, no correction or follow-up revision to that memorandum had been identified.

PTI reporting describes this as the tenth straight quarter without a change and notes that the government last revised any small savings rate in the fourth quarter of 2023-24. That tenth-quarter characterisation is attributed to PTI reporting; the 30 September memorandum itself states only that third-quarter rates are unchanged from the second quarter.

The rate card for 1 October to 31 December 2026

The 30 September memorandum does not reprint the rate table; it carries over the second-quarter rates by reference. The levels below match the National Savings Institute rate table and press reports of the quarter's rates.

The main rates are: Public Provident Fund 7.1 percent; National Savings Certificate 7.7 percent; Sukanya Samriddhi Account 8.2 percent; Senior Citizens Savings Scheme 8.2 percent; Kisan Vikas Patra 7.5 percent with maturity in 115 months; Post Office Monthly Income Account 7.4 percent; five-year Post Office Time Deposit 7.5 percent; and five-year Post Office Recurring Deposit 6.7 percent.

The wider notified card for the quarter also includes: Post Office Savings Account 4.0 percent; one-year Time Deposit 6.9 percent; two-year Time Deposit 7.0 percent; and three-year Time Deposit 7.1 percent.

What unchanged means for a saver

Unchanged means the second-quarter rate card rolls forward. A new PPF, NSC, Sukanya Samriddhi, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, Kisan Vikas Patra, Monthly Income Account, time-deposit, or recurring-deposit account opened between 1 October and 31 December 2026 is notified at the rates above. There is no intra-quarter advantage from delaying account opening in expectation of a higher notified rate, because the notification fixes the quarter in advance.

The notification does not itself alter the tenure, premature-closure conditions, deposit caps, eligibility, or tax treatment of any scheme. Those features were not re-notified on 30 September, so this article does not restate them. Existing fixed-term certificates continue on the terms contracted at deposit; the quarterly notification governs the rates on offer for the quarter, not a retrospective reset of certificates already issued.

Why rates reset each quarter, and what the evidence supports

Small savings rates are reviewed every quarter under a framework announced in February 2016 to recalibrate rates to align with market yields on government securities of comparable maturity. A government security, often called a G-sec, is a debt instrument issued by the government, and its secondary-market yield reflects prevailing market interest rates for that maturity. Under the framework, the notified rate for a scheme is broadly the relevant G-sec yield plus a spread, where the spread is an added margin in basis points; one hundred basis points equal one percentage point.

The 2016 framework retained distinct spreads for schemes with social-security aims: reporting on the framework cites 25 basis points for PPF, NSC, and the five-year time deposit, 25 basis points for the Monthly Income Account, 75 basis points for Sukanya Samriddhi, and 100 basis points for the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme.

The evidence supports the framework as intent, not as a mechanical outcome each quarter. The framework is a guide to how rates are set, but the government has in practice held the notified rates flat for ten quarters, according to PTI. A saver should therefore treat the G-sec link as background to how the review is framed, not as a predictor that the next quarter must move with bond yields.

What happens next

The next scheduled review will notify rates for the fourth quarter of FY2026-27, covering 1 January to 31 March 2027. Separately, the RBI Monetary Policy Committee decision is due on 7 October 2026 and had not been announced as of the 6 October reporting cutoff; that decision concerns the policy rate cycle and is distinct from this small savings notification. This article makes no claim about bank fixed-deposit rates, which banks set from their own funding needs.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal, or financial advice. Interest rates, scheme terms, and tax rules can change. Before investing, check the current Department of Economic Affairs memorandum, the National Savings Institute rate table, and the applicable scheme rules, and consider speaking with a qualified financial adviser for advice specific to individual circumstances.

Sources and links

Source: Original source