Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

13-December-2012 18:42 IST

The recommendation of Shyamala Gopinath Committee regarding agents’ commission was to reduce commission of 0.5% on Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS) and 1% on Public Provident Fund (PPF) to zero, reduce 4% commission under Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana (MPKBY) to 1% in a phased manner and to reduce 1% commission for all other schemes under Standardised Agency System (SAS) to 0.5%. The Government, after consulting all the stakeholders and the representations received, has decided to reduce the commission under PPF and SCSS to zero and under SAS to 0.5%.

However, commission under MPKBY continues to be at 4% for the time being.

The main intention of these recommendations is to make these schemes more investor centric than agent centric.

Representations of Small Savings Agents’ Association from various states including Mumbai were received in the past. Taking into account large number of representations received from Small Savings Agent’s Associations, Members of Parliament, other dignitaries and others, the Government accepted most of the recommendations of the Committee.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Finance Shri Namo Narain Meena in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

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DSM/RS/ka

Reduction in commission shifts small savings schemes toward investor centric distribution after stakeholder consultations. The Government adopted committee recommendations to reduce agent commissions on small savings products, cutting commission on the Public Provident Fund and the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme to nil and standardising commissions under the Standardised Agency System at a lower rate, while temporarily retaining higher commission for the Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana. The decision follows consultations and representations from Small Savings Agents' Associations and other stakeholders and is presented as a shift to make schemes more investor centric.