Gold Monetisation Scheme Deposits: What Happens Now

New medium and long term gold deposits under the Gold Monetisation Scheme stopped from March 26, 2025, and renewals stopped with them. Deposits already made are not stated to be cancelled.

Plenty of pages still describe this deposit as something you can walk into a bank and open. You cannot. But the same RBI document that closes the door also says an existing deposit carries on under the rules it was made under.

The rows that tell you to confirm with your bank are not a dodge. A national direction cannot tell you what is written on your certificate. Only your bank can.

The document is Reserve Bank of India Master Direction No.DBR.IBD.No.45/23.67.003/2015-16, Gold Monetization Scheme, 2015, dated October 22, 2015, reference RBI/2015-16/211. The header shows it was updated as on March 25, 2025.

The definitions chapter describes a medium and long term government deposit as gold deposited with a designated bank in the account of the Central Government for “a medium term period of 5-7 years or a long term period of 12-15 years or for such period as may be decided from time to time by the Central Government”. It then says:

“Government of India has discontinued mobilization of MLTGD, including renewals, with effect from March 26, 2025.”

The chapter on types of deposits repeats it, and adds the part that matters to existing depositors:

“The mobilization of a deposit under this category, including renewal, has been discontinued with effect from March 26, 2025. The MLTGD as on March 25, 2025 (read with para 2.3 below) will continue to be governed by the relevant provisions of this Direction.”

Those sentences stop new gold coming in. They do not shut the scheme down, and they say nothing about closing deposits already made. The second one is a saving clause that keeps existing deposits inside the rulebook.

The Direction is issued under “Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949” and in pursuance of “Office Memorandum F.No.20/6/2015-FT dated September 15, 2015 and press release ID 2115009 dated March 25, 2025”. It applies “to all Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks)”.

Nothing in the Master Direction cancels your deposit. What has changed is the exit. You cannot roll it over any more, so maturity is the only end point, and you need the date.

Two provisions are worth knowing before you speak to the bank.

• The bank must warn you well in advance. Designated banks have to inform depositors about redemption “at least 120 days prior to redemption date and ask them to submit their response within 30 days on their preference for redemption”. Make sure the bank holds your current address, mobile number and email. If that notice goes to an address you left years ago, the clock still runs.
• The payout form was chosen at the start. The Direction says redemption of principal at maturity is, at the option of the depositor, either the rupee equivalent of the value of the deposited gold at the time of redemption, or gold, and that the bank “shall seek the option of collecting maturing proceeds in gold or in Indian Rupee equivalent from the depositor at the time of initial deposit”. So which one applies to you depends on what was recorded when you opened the account. Do not assume. Ask.

The Direction also requires the original deposit certificate to be presented for redemption. Find yours now, not on maturity week. Then adapt this letter, hand it in at the branch and get your copy stamped, or email it to the bank grievance address and keep the delivery record.

To: The Branch Manager, [Branch name and address]
Subject: Written confirmation of maturity terms, gold deposit account no. [number]

Sir or Madam,

I hold a medium and long term government deposit under the Gold Monetisation
Scheme with this branch. Deposit certificate number [number], dated [date],
in the name of [name].

I understand that mobilisation of this category of deposit, including renewal,
has been discontinued with effect from March 26, 2025, and that deposits
existing on March 25, 2025 continue under the RBI Master Direction. Since
renewal is no longer available to me, I need my maturity position in writing.

Please confirm, on the bank letterhead:
1. The exact maturity date of this deposit.
2. The redemption option recorded on my account at the time of deposit, that
   is, whether my maturity proceeds are payable in gold or in rupees.
3. If in gold, the branch from which I would collect it and any charges I
   would have to bear. If in rupees, the account to be credited.
4. The address, mobile number and email you hold for the pre-redemption
   intimation, so that I can correct them if they are out of date.
5. The procedure if the original deposit certificate is misplaced.

Please treat this as a request for information relating to my own account.

Yours faithfully,
[Name, address, mobile, date]

If the branch stalls, escalate inside the bank in writing, quote the date of your first letter, and keep every acknowledgement.

This route is closed. There is no point asking a branch for an exception, because the bank did not end it. The Direction attributes the decision to the Government of India.

So ignore any blog, comparison page or agent that still lists this deposit as open, quotes a rate for it, or offers to help you apply. Check the date on the page first. And if someone offers to take your physical gold for a government backed deposit against a receipt that is not a bank deposit certificate, walk away.

The check takes about two minutes.

1. Open the RBI Master Direction on the Gold Monetization Scheme, 2015.
2. At the top you should see the number DBR.IBD.No.45/23.67.003/2015-16, the date October 22, 2015, and a line reading updated as on March 25, 2025.
3. Use your browser find function and search for the word discontinued. It appears twice, in the definitions and in the chapter on types of deposits.
4. Read the sentence right after the second one. That is the line about deposits as on March 25, 2025 continuing under the Direction.

There is also an RTI route, with limits. A public sector bank is a public authority, because section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act covers a body owned, controlled or substantially financed by the appropriate government. A private bank is generally outside the Act. So with a public sector bank you can ask for its own circular implementing this change, and for the record relating to your own deposit account. With a private bank, use the grievance machinery instead.

Under the Act the public information officer must decide within thirty days. If that passes, or the reply is unsatisfactory, a first appeal lies within thirty days to an officer senior in rank to that officer. The AI RTI Drafter builds the application, the Timeline Tracker gives you the due date, and the First Appeal Builder handles silence. The method is in The RTI Playbook, and the bare law is at RTI Act, 2005.

No. The Master Direction discontinues mobilisation of the medium and long term government deposit, including renewals, from March 26, 2025. It does not say the scheme itself was scrapped, and the short term bank deposit of gold is still described in the same Direction.

The Master Direction does not say existing deposits were cancelled. It says an MLTGD as on March 25, 2025 continues to be governed by the relevant provisions of the Direction. What you lose is the ability to renew, so plan for maturity.

The Master Direction does not answer that for your account. It says the redemption option is taken from the depositor at the time of the initial deposit, so the answer sits on your record with the bank. Get it in writing using the letter above.

The Direction requires banks to inform depositors about redemption at least 120 days before the redemption date and to seek a response within 30 days. It does not tell you your own maturity date. Confirm that with the bank and mark the 120 day point in your own calendar.

The discontinuation sentence names the medium and long term government deposit only, and the Direction still describes a short term bank deposit of gold for 1 to 3 years. Whether your bank is accepting one today is a bank level question, not something the Master Direction states. Ask the branch.

If it is a public sector bank, yes. It is a public authority under section 2(h) of the RTI Act, so you can ask for the internal circular implementing the discontinuation and for the record on your own deposit account. For a private bank, RTI generally does not apply.

• Reserve Bank of India, Master Direction No.DBR.IBD.No.45/23.67.003/2015-16, Gold Monetization Scheme, 2015, dated October 22, 2015, updated as on March 25, 2025. Read it on rbi.org.in
• The Right to Information Act, 2005, sections 2, 7 and 19. RTI Act, 2005

• Sovereign Gold Bond Redemption: Your Exit Options
• Digital Gold Is Not Regulated by Any Regulator
• RBI Gold Loan Rules: LTV and Borrower Rights
• Gold Hallmark Under-Purity Complaint to BIS
• Gold Investment Scam India: Verify, Recover, Report