RBI allows SIP in treasury bills via Retail Direct
Treasury bills are short-term government securities with tenure up to one year. Treasury bills do not promise any interest, but are available at a discount price which can be redeemed at a nominal value. The investor thus earns through capital gains. Currently, investors could invest indirectly in treasury bills through liquid funds offered by mutual funds. But with Retail Direct, they can directly purchase T-bills from the government.
To enable investors to systematically plan their investments, an auto-bidding facility for Treasury bills (T-bills), covering both investment and re-investment options, has been enabled in Retail Direct. The new functionality helps investors to mandate automatic placement of bids in primary auctions of T-bills.
The Retail Direct portal was launched in November 2021 to facilitate retail investors to open their Gilt accounts with the Reserve Bank under the Retail Direct Scheme. The scheme allows retail investors to buy Government Securities (G-Secs) in primary auctions as well as buy and sell G-Secs in the secondary market. Since the launch of the Scheme, various new features, in terms of product as well as payment options, have been introduced, including launch of a mobile app in May 2024.
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