RBI Retail Direct: How Individuals Can Buy G-Secs, T-Bills, SDLs and Savings Bonds

Most Indian households own government debt indirectly — through a bank fixed deposit, a debt mutual fund or an insurance policy. Since November 2021, there has been a direct route as well. The Reserve Bank of India's Retail Direct Scheme allows an individual to hold a gilt account with the central bank itself and buy government paper without a broker or distributor sitting in between.

This article explains the mechanics of the platform: what can be bought, what the minimum ticket sizes are, how auctions work for an individual bidder, and which features matter when you compare this route with the more familiar ones. It does not recommend any security, maturity or amount.

What the scheme actually is

Retail Direct is best understood as an account, not a product. The RBI describes the scheme as a one-stop solution to facilitate investment in Government Securities by individual investors, under which individual retail investors can open a Gilt Securities Account — the "Retail Direct Gilt (RDG)" account — with the RBI. Using this account, retail investors can buy and sell government securities through the online portal at rbiretaildirect.org.in.

Eligibility is deliberately narrow and simple. Retail investors, that is, individuals (natural persons), are allowed to open an RDG account. The scheme document lists what registration requires: a rupee savings bank account maintained in India, a Permanent Account Number issued by the Income Tax Department, any officially valid document for KYC purposes, a valid email id and a registered mobile number. Non-residents are not automatically excluded — non-resident retail investors eligible to invest in Government Securities under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 are eligible under the scheme.

The platform has been extended over time. The RBI has noted that since launch, various new features in terms of product as well as payment options have been introduced, including the launch of a mobile app in May 2024. In its Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies of August 2025, the Reserve Bank announced the introduction of auto-bidding facilities in RBI Retail Direct for investment and re-investment in Treasury bills.

What you can buy on the platform

The menu is restricted to sovereign instruments. Through Retail Direct an investor can access Government of India Treasury Bills (T-Bills), Government of India dated securities (dated G-Sec), State Development Loans (SDLs) and Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB). The RBI has separately confirmed that retail investors can currently invest in Central Government Securities, Treasury Bills, State Government Securities and Sovereign Gold Bonds through the Retail Direct Portal.

In October 2023 the basket was widened: the RBI, in consultation with the Government, enabled subscription to Floating Rate Savings Bonds, 2020 (Taxable) — FRSB 2020 (T) — through the same portal.

Minimum amounts and the non-competitive route

The entry sizes are modest, which is the point of the scheme. The RBI's published table of minimum investment amounts (as on Nov 12, 2021) is as follows.

Individuals participate only through the non-competitive segment of primary auctions. The scheme is designed to facilitate only non-competitive participation — that is, bids without choosing your own price — by individuals. Anyone who wishes to place a competitive bid is told to approach a bank, primary dealer or other authorised institution instead. In practice this means you state the amount you want and accept the price discovered in the auction.

There is a ceiling on how much of an issue can go to this segment. In the RBI's words, the aggregate allocation of all non-competitive bids will be restricted to a maximum of 5% of the aggregate nominal amount of the issue within the notified amount as specified by the Government of India, or any other percentage determined by RBI.

Funding works slightly differently across products. For dated G-Sec, T-Bills and SDLs, the amount per unit is based on the indicative price of the security, the accrued interest and a mark-up. For SGBs, the funding is based on the issue price declared by the RBI for that particular issue. The mark-up is not a fee, and any excess is refunded once the auction price is known.

How the instruments differ

Treasury bills sit at the short end of the curve. The RBI describes T-bills as money market instruments — short-term debt instruments issued by the Government of India, presently issued in three tenors, namely, 91 day, 182 day and 364 day. They are zero coupon securities and pay no interest; instead, they are issued at a discount and redeemed at the face value at maturity. Your return therefore comes from the gap between purchase price and face value, not from periodic coupons.

Dated G-Secs and SDLs are longer-maturity, coupon-paying instruments. On bid sizes, the RBI states that the minimum bid amount is ₹10,000 and in multiples of ₹10,000 in dated securities, and a minimum of ₹10,000 in the case of T-Bills and in multiples of ₹10,000 thereafter.

Two points matter for anyone comparing these with a deposit. First, tradable government securities carry price risk if sold before maturity, because the price moves with market yields. Second, liquidity in the secondary market for small lots is not the same thing as pressing "redeem" on a savings product.

Floating Rate Savings Bonds: a different animal

FRSB 2020 (T) sits on the same portal but behaves nothing like a tradable G-Sec. The RBI describes FRSBs as interest bearing, non-tradeable bonds, issued by the Government of India, which are repayable on the expiration of seven years from the date of issue.

The coupon is reset every six months against the National Savings Certificate rate. The RBI has explained that the coupon rate on these bonds is reset half-yearly and is linked to the prevailing National Savings Certificate (NSC) rate with a spread of (+) 35 basis points. For the current half-year, the RBI announced that the coupon rate on FRSB 2020 (T) for the period July 01, 2026, to December 31, 2026, and payable on January 01, 2027, remains at 8.05% (7.70%+0.35%), unchanged from the previous half-year.

Other features, from the Government's own description of the scheme: the bonds are issued at par, in a minimum nominal amount specified in the notification and in multiples thereof; they are repayable on the expiration of 7 (Seven) years from the date of issue; and premature redemption is allowed for specified categories of senior citizens. There is no maximum limit for investment in the bonds, and there is no option to pay interest on a cumulative basis. On tax, interest on the bonds is taxable under the Income-tax Act, 1961 as applicable according to the relevant tax status of the bondholder. The bonds are open to investment by individuals (including joint holdings) and Hindu Undivided Families, and NRIs are not eligible to invest in them.

Costs, custody and other practical features

The cost structure is the scheme's main distinguishing feature relative to intermediated routes. The RBI says the Retail Direct account is completely free of charge and does not involve any intermediary. The scheme document is more precise: no fee is charged for opening and maintaining the Retail Direct Gilt account with the RBI, no fee is charged by the aggregator for submitting bids in primary auctions, and fees for the payment gateway and the like are borne by the registered investor.

Securities are held in a gilt account with the RBI itself rather than in a demat account with a depository participant. The scheme also provides that Retail Direct investors have an online facility to gift government securities to other Retail Direct investors.

When comparing this route with buying government paper through a gilt fund, a target-maturity fund or a broker, the honest comparison list is: the cost of access, the tax treatment of returns in your own hands, who takes the reinvestment decision at maturity, how easily you can exit mid-way, and whether you want a fixed maturity date at all. Those are factual differences; none of them makes one route superior for every investor.

Where to raise a query

Grievances do not go to a distributor. Under the scheme, any query or grievance related to Retail Direct can be raised on the portal and is handled or resolved by the Public Debt Office (PDO) Mumbai, RBI. The published contact details also include a toll free phone number, 1800 267 7955, available between 9 am to 7 pm on any working day, and a support email address on the portal.

E-Square Tip: Before registering, write down the exact maturity date of the security you are considering and ask yourself what you would do if you needed the money a year earlier. For a 91 day T-bill the answer is easy; for a long-dated G-Sec or a seven-year FRSB it is not, because one carries secondary-market price risk and the other is non-tradeable with premature exit limited to specified categories of senior citizens. The platform is free; the maturity choice is where the real decision lies.