Small savings interest rates stay the same for October to December 2026: PPF 7.1%, SCSS 8.2%, NSC 7.7%
A Finance Ministry office memorandum dated 30 September 2026 keeps interest rates on small savings schemes, including PPF, SCSS, NSC and Sukanya Samriddhi, unchanged for 1 October to 31 December 2026.
The Ministry of Finance has kept the interest rates on small savings schemes unchanged for the October to December 2026 quarter, which runs from 1 October to 31 December 2026. For people who hold or open accounts in these post office and government-backed schemes, the rates for these three months are the same as in July to September 2026.
Small savings schemes are savings and deposit products run by the government and mostly sold through post offices and banks, such as the Public Provident Fund (PPF), the Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme (SCSS), the National Savings Certificate (NSC) and the Sukanya Samriddhi account for girl children. The government reviews their rates every three months.
What the memorandum says
An office memorandum (a formal government order) dated 30 September 2026 from the Department of Economic Affairs, Budget Division, is titled “Revision of interest rates for Small Savings Schemes”. It says the rates for the third quarter of the 2026-27 financial year, from 1 October to 31 December 2026, “shall remain unchanged” from those notified for the second quarter, which was 1 July to 30 September 2026. The memorandum does not list the rates itself.
The rates, as reported
Business Today reported the following annual rates for the quarter. Outlook Money’s list agrees for the nine schemes it covers; the 1-year and 2-year time deposits and the 5-year recurring deposit appear only in Business Today’s list.
| Scheme | Rate reported |
|---|---|
| Sukanya Samriddhi account | 8.2% |
| Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme (SCSS) | 8.2% |
| National Savings Certificate (NSC) | 7.7% |
| Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) | 7.5% |
| 5-year post office time deposit | 7.5% |
| Monthly Income Scheme (MIS) | 7.4% |
| Public Provident Fund (PPF) | 7.1% |
| 3-year post office time deposit | 7.1% |
| 2-year post office time deposit | 7.0% |
| 1-year post office time deposit | 6.9% |
| 5-year recurring deposit | 6.7% |
| Post office savings account | 4.0% |
A time deposit is a sum placed with the post office for a fixed number of years. A recurring deposit is a fixed amount saved every month.
Basis of these figures
The memorandum’s date, issuing office, subject and the “shall remain unchanged” wording are from the Department of Economic Affairs office memorandum F.No.1/4/2019-NS dated 30 September 2026, which was read in full. The memorandum contains no rate table, so the scheme-by-scheme rates are from Business Today and Outlook Money. The two reports differ on how many quarters in a row the rates have been unchanged (nine and ten), so this article does not state a count. Read the memorandum and the India Post rate listing for the official position. This article reports the rates and does not say which scheme suits any saver.