General information — not legal advice. Procedures differ between institutions and change without notice. Always confirm the current requirements with the bank, insurer or registrar before travelling to a branch or office.
Last reviewed: 23 August 2026 · Report an error on this page
Sovereign Gold Bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the government, and they are claimed differently depending on how they were held: in demat form through the depository, or in physical certificate of holding form through the receiving office — the bank, post office or agency through which they were bought.
The useful thing to know before you start is that the bonds do not have to be encashed. They can be transmitted to the claimant and held to maturity, continuing to earn the fixed interest and tracking the gold price. For a family that does not need the money immediately, that is often the better outcome.
A claimant does not need to be an eligible investor in the way an original subscriber did — transmission on death is treated differently from a purchase.
Find out how the bonds were held
Look for a certificate of holding, which the RBI issues for bonds not held in demat form, or for the bonds appearing on a demat statement.
Interest on these bonds is paid half-yearly into the holder's bank account, so the bank statement is a reliable way to discover holdings the family did not know about — look for half-yearly credits with an SGB or RBI reference.
If the bonds are in demat, the claim follows the ordinary demat transmission route through the depository participant, and our shares and demat guide covers that process.
Approach the receiving office for physical holdings
3–6 weeks
For bonds held outside demat, the claim goes to the receiving office through which the bonds were originally bought — the bank branch, post office or agency named on the certificate of holding.
Nominations on these bonds are registered at the Office of Issue — the receiving office through which they were bought — which issues a Certificate of Registration for the nomination and is where any change or cancellation is lodged. That is therefore also where a transmission is recorded. Once done, interest is credited to the claimant's account and the claimant is recognised as the holder for redemption.
Where a nominee is registered, this is generally straightforward. Where there is none, the legal heirs claim with the usual succession documentation.
What to take with you
- Transmission request to the receiving officeusually requiredFrom Bank, post office or agency
- Death certificateusually required
- Certificate of holdingsometimes requiredA duplicate can be obtained if lost.
- Claimant's PAN and Aadhaarusually required
- Claimant's bank account detailsusually requiredHalf-yearly interest will be credited here.
- Nomination details as registeredsometimes required
- Indemnity and NOC from other heirssometimes required
- Succession or legal heir certificatesometimes required
Decide whether to hold or redeem
Once transmitted, the claimant holds the bonds on the original terms: the fixed interest continues to be paid half-yearly, and the redemption value at maturity tracks the gold price.
Premature redemption is permitted after the fifth year from the date of issue, and only on a date on which interest is payable. Before that, the only exit is a sale — and only if the bonds are in demat form, where exchange liquidity can be thin.
For a family with no immediate need for the cash, holding to maturity generally preserves the most value, because the interest is paid on top of the gold price movement.
Check the tax treatment before selling
The tax treatment is unusual and worth understanding before you act: the half-yearly interest is taxable as income, but the capital gain arising on redemption is exempt for an individual. A sale before maturity is treated differently — it is a transfer, taxed as a capital gain, with indexation available.
The transmission itself is not taxable. Succession and inheritance are excluded from what counts as a transfer, and India has no inheritance tax, so receiving the bonds costs the claimant nothing in tax.
So the route out matters. Redeeming (at maturity, or prematurely after the fifth year) and selling on the exchange are not equivalent in tax terms even at the same price.
Because the two routes are taxed differently, the decision of whether to redeem, sell or hold has a real tax consequence for the claimant. Take a view with a tax adviser rather than at the branch.
Documents checklist
Take this list with you. A filled circle is asked for almost every time; a dashed one depends on your circumstances.
- Transmission request to receiving office, or DP transmission form for dematusually required
- Death certificateusually required
- Certificate of holding or demat statementusually required
- Claimant's PAN, Aadhaar and bank detailsusually required
- Indemnity and NOC from other heirssometimes required
- Succession or legal heir certificatesometimes required
Common questions
Do we have to sell the bonds?
No. They can be transmitted to the claimant and held to maturity, continuing to earn half-yearly interest and tracking the gold price. For families with no immediate need for cash, that usually preserves the most value.
How do we find out whether there were any?
Interest is credited half-yearly to the holder's bank account, so look for half-yearly credits with an SGB or RBI reference on the bank statement. Also check for a certificate of holding or a demat statement entry.
The certificate of holding is lost. Is that a problem?
No. A duplicate can be obtained from the receiving office or the RBI, and the holding exists on the register regardless of the paper.
Can the claimant hold them even if they already own a lot of gold bonds?
Transmission on death is treated differently from a fresh purchase, so the subscription limits that apply to a buyer are not an obstacle to a claimant. The RBI expressly contemplates transmission to a nominee — even a non-resident Indian may have the security transferred into their name as the nominee of a deceased investor.
Should we sell on the stock exchange instead of waiting?
Check the price first. Trading in these bonds can be thin and exchange prices can sit well below the value implied by the RBI reference gold price.
Sources
Everything on this page traces back to these. If one has changed since we checked it, the page is wrong — please tell us.
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Start a free recordAbout this guide
KinSetu publishes these guides to help families understand the process of claiming assets after a death in India. They are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, and reading them creates no professional or advisory relationship with KinSetu.
We research each guide from the institutions’ own published forms and circulars, cite them where we can, and review pages periodically. Even so, requirements vary by institution, branch, state and individual circumstance, and they change without notice. We cannot guarantee that any list of documents or steps is complete or current for your situation, and KinSetu accepts no liability for decisions taken solely on the basis of these pages.
Nomination is not inheritance. A nominee is generally the person an institution releases an asset to — not necessarily the person legally entitled to own it, which is determined by a will or by succession law. Where ownership, division between heirs, or a dispute is involved, please consult a qualified lawyer.
Found something out of date or incorrect? Tell us — we check every report and correct the page. Last reviewed on 23 August 2026.