Being bedazzled in gold jewellery, especially during festivals, is an age-old tradition in India. Investing in the commodity has also long been regarded a sound investment, with gold being one of the highest traded commodities in India. If you are thinking about investing, here are a few simple ways you can do so:
Where can you easily buy gold?
You can buy gold online via mobile wallets such as Paytm, PhonePe and under the Gold Rush Plan of Stock Holding Corporation of India. All these options to buy gold are offered either in association with MMTC-PAMP or SafeGold or both.
Safety
The gold purchased by you from these platforms is kept in a vault which is fully secured for all the eventualities.
How Long Can You Hold on to Gold?
You can hold your gold for a maximum of 5 years if bought though the MMTC-PAMP platform and they levy no storage charges. After 5 years, the investor is required to either convert the gold into coins or sell it. It is essential that you make at least one transaction in a period of six months to prevent your account from being labelled inactive.
If your gold investment is less than 2 grams at the end of 2 years from the date of your first purchase, a 0.005 percent per month fee is charged. This fee will be deducted at the end of every month from your gold balance.
Features of Gold on PhonePe
1. Buying of gold starts from Re1 or 0.001 grams. However, to sell it, one must have a minimum gold worth of Rs 5. You cannot buy and sell on the same day.
2. The gold rate quoted on the app includes custom duties and taxes. There is a differential quoted by MMTC-PAMP and SafeGold due to difference in gold in terms of fineness.
3. The live rate of buying remains valid for 5 minutes while the selling rate remains valid for 4 minutes.
4. Currently, one can accumulate up to Rs 2 lakh at any point. To accumulate more, you will be required to comply with KYC checks.
5. One can buy gold from both the platforms. Each locker will be separately maintained by them.
6. Conversion of gold into coins/pendants starts from 1 gram. You will be required to pay delivery and making charges, as applicable.
7. The gold coins or pendants will be delivered in tamper-proof packaging.
Features of Paytm's Digital Gold
1. Minimum value to buy gold starts from Re 1 to maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh. In grams, you can buy a minimum of 0.0005 grams and a maximum of 50 grams.
2. Selling of gold starts from 0.0005 grams or Rs 1. The live price is valid for 7 minutes to complete the transaction.
3. Additional charges will be levied for custody after five years. However, Paytm did not respond on how much those charges are.
4. At the time of sale, you will be required to provide your bank account and IFSC code details. Money will be credited into your account within 72 hours.
5. According to the FAQs section, on any given day, the selling price is lower than buying price because there are certain costs which include taxes, bank charges and others.
6. You can also send gold as a gift to your loved ones.
7. As per Paytm app, you must have a minimum balance in your digital gold account to convert it into coin. MMTC-PAMP coins start from 0.5 gram while Augmont coins start from 0.1 grams. Recently, Paytm tied up with jewellery stores such as Kalyan Jewellers, PC Jewellers and so on. Now customers can redeem their digital gold by converting it into jewellery.
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