Strota Research

Pay 11 months, get the 12th free: that jeweller bonus is worth 19.3% a year

By Strota Newsroom · 2026-10-27 · How Strota reports

goldgold schemesjewelleryrecurring depositpersonal finance

We checked 14 jeweller gold schemes. The free month beat post office RD interest in every one, but it comes with strings that can shrink it fast.

The classic jeweller gold scheme promise sounds small. You pay every month for most of a year, and the shop covers the last month for you. We worked out what that bonus is really worth. Used on time, it is like earning 19.3% a year. That beat a post office recurring deposit in every plan we checked.

What is the free month worth in rupees?

Take the textbook plan, with ₹5,000 going in at the start of each month. By the last payment, you have put in ₹55,000 in total.

The shop then lets you pick jewellery worth ₹60,000. That is a full free month on top of what you paid. If you put the same money in a post office RD instead, it would have earned just ₹1,819 in interest over those months.

Why does a small bonus turn into such a big yearly figure? Your money does not sit with the jeweller for the whole plan. The first payment waits nearly a year, but the last one waits only a few weeks. On average, each rupee waits about 5.9 months before you buy. So a bonus worth 9.1% of what you paid becomes a large yearly number.

Which jeweller scheme gives the biggest bonus?

We looked at 14 plans from Tanishq, CaratLane, Senco, TBZ, Bhima in Tamil Nadu, PNG and Reliance Jewels. The richest was CaratLane's option for studded jewellery, at 31.2% a year. The weakest was TBZ Golden Shield, at 7.8% a year. Even that one beat the RD.

Tanishq Golden Harvest, a name many families know, sits in the middle of the pack. You pay ₹50,000 over the plan and get ₹3,750 off your jewellery. The typical plan in our list worked out close to that, at 14.0% a year.

Does buying late cut the bonus?

Yes, and quickly. The bonus is fixed in rupees, but the wait keeps growing if you delay. Let the same textbook plan run until day 545 before you shop, and the free month is worth only 8.4% a year. So the timing choice from the top of this article is simple: buy when the plan matures, not months later. The bonus suits a family that was already going to buy jewellery at that shop, around that date, for a wedding or a festival.

What are the catches in a jeweller gold scheme?

Every plan we checked cuts or cancels the bonus if you pay late or miss a month. That was true in all 14. Buying or closing early also hurts. Every plan whose terms cover this, 13 of them, cuts or removes the bonus.

Then there is the refund question. In 7 of 10 plans whose terms say either way, your savings come back only as jewellery from that shop. There is no cash refund. The bonus is not cash either. It is a discount at one jeweller, and nowhere else.

How we checked: we read the published terms of each of the 14 plans on 26 October 2026. We assumed equal monthly payments at the start of each month, with jewellery bought on the first allowed day. We then compared each bonus with what a post office RD would have paid over the same months, at the government's current rate, compounded every quarter.

The limits are real. Making charges, GST and the jeweller's own gold rate come on top, and we did not model them. We also ignored tax on RD interest. The scheme bonus carries no tax, but you cannot spend it as cash. Our day counts assume you pay on the same date each month. And jewellers change their terms, so a plan you see today may not match the one we read.

Frequently asked questions

Is a jeweller gold scheme better than an RD?

In our check of 14 plans, the free-month bonus was bigger than post office RD interest in every one. But the bonus comes only as jewellery from that shop, and only if you pay on time and buy on schedule.

What happens if I miss a payment in a gold scheme?

In every plan we checked, a late or missed payment cuts or cancels the bonus. How much you lose differs from plan to plan.

Can I get cash back from a jeweller gold scheme?

Often not. In 7 of 10 plans whose terms cover it, your savings come back only as jewellery, with no cash refund.

Sources and method

This note is based on Strota's own backtest research. Historical results are not forecasts or investment advice; see the editorial standards for methodology and limitations.