To generate safe, high-yielding regular income from government-backed schemes, what is the maximum permissible investment limit for Mr. Smart in the Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme (SCSS)?

[ A ]Rs. 15 Lakhs

[ B ]Rs. 30 Lakhs[ CORRECT ]

[ C ]Rs. 20 Lakhs

[ D ]Rs. 50 Lakhs

Takeaway

The maximum permissible investment in the Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme (SCSS) per individual is Rs. 30 Lakhs, so option B is correct.

Derivation

The SCSS deposit ceiling was raised from its earlier Rs. 15 Lakhs limit to Rs. 30 Lakhs per individual as part of the Union Budget 2023 reforms, making it a materially larger sovereign-backed income vehicle for retirees seeking safe, quarterly-payout returns. This is a pure fact-recall question testing whether candidates have the current, post-2023 ceiling rather than the older figure that many legacy study materials still quote — a distinction the exam specifically probes since the change is recent and easy to misremember.

Why the others fail

A — Rs. 15 Lakhs

Rs. 15 Lakhs was the previous SCSS ceiling before the Ministry of Finance doubled the limit to Rs. 30 Lakhs effective from Budget 2023.

C — Rs. 20 Lakhs

Rs. 20 Lakhs is the statutory tax-exemption ceiling applicable to gratuity payouts, not the SCSS maximum deposit limit.

D — Rs. 50 Lakhs

Rs. 50 Lakhs is the annual investment ceiling applicable to Section 54EC capital gains bonds (such as REC/NHAI), not the SCSS deposit limit.