National Prize Bonds Scheme - Modus Operandi

State Bank of Pakistan commenced the sale of Prize Bonds under the scheme of 'National Prize Bonds' from. October 1st 1960 as an agent to the Government of Pakistan. The prize bonds scheme was revived with six denominations under the title National Prize Bonds on July 1, 1999 and two more denominations were subsequently added in 2012. The work relating to sale, encashment, conducting draws, payment of prize money for National Prize Bonds scheme and other saving instruments of the Federal Government or of a Provincial Government was transferred to SBP Banking Services Corporation (Bank) Karachi, pursuant to its creation on 2nd January 2002 as a fully owned subsidiary of the SBP. At present, operations of National Prize Bonds is managed by all 16 field Offices of SBP BSC (Bank), authorized branches of Schedule Banks and National Savings Centers of Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS).

The National Prize Bonds are "bearer" in nature and ownership of these bonds changes with mere change of hands. Being interest free, holder of these bonds is eligible for the face value of bonds in addition to prize money (if any) under the governing rules i.e. Prize Bonds Rules 1999 and Prize Bond Refund Rules 1963, provided that prize money is claimed within six years from the date of respective draw. The eight denomination National Prize Bonds presently in vogue along with the quantities of prizes thereon are given hereunder:

Denomination
(Rs.)

1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize
  Amount (Rs.) No of Prizes Amount (Rs.) No of Prizes Amount (Rs.) No of Prizes
100 700,000 1 200,000 3 1,000 1,199
200 750,000 1 250,000 5 1,250 2,394
750 1,500,000 1 500,000 3 9,300 1,696
1,500 3,000,000 1 1,000,000 3 18,500 1,696
7,500 15,000,000 1 5,000,000 3 93,000 1,696
15,000 30,000,000 1 10,000,000 3 185,000 1,696
25,000 50,000,000 1 15,000,000 3 312,000 1,696
40,000 75,000,000 1 25,000,000 3 500,000 1,696

The quantum of National Prize Bonds held by the general public as on May 15, 2018 stands at Rs. 824.3 billion against Rs. 522.5 billion in 2015 and Rs. 236 billion in 2010. During 2017, the SBP BSC processed 2.4 million prize money claims as against 2.2 million claims during 2016. These prize money claims are generally submitted by members of general public from almost all parts of the country who visit 16 SBP Banking Services Corporation Offices located in 15 cities. To facilitate general public, all prize money claims upto Rs. 18,500/- are processed on the same day and paid in cash over the counter. For prize money claims above Rs. 18,500/-, payment is made by issuing a payment order in favour of the claimant. To safeguard the interest of government, all prize bonds having won prize money of Rs. 1 million & above are invariably sent to Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC) Karachi for genuineness confirmation of the bond. The bonds that are suspected as non-genuine or with a likely tampered serial number are also sent to PSPC for verification. Accordingly, the maximum time required to process such claims is 30 working days, which is notified to the claimant(s) at the time of claim submission.

It is also pertinent to mention that under Prize Bond Rules 1999, bonds can only be sold through offices of SBP BSC, Authorized Commercial Banks and National Savings Centers. Sale of prize bonds by unauthorized entity or sale of documents resembling prize bonds has been prohibited under Section 489G of Pakistan Penal Code 1860 (published in the Gazette 6, 2012).

At present, prize bond draws are held at nine SBP BSC Offices on quarterly basis for each of the 08 denominations under single common draw system. The draw schedule for the same is announced by CDNS every year. The Prize Bond Draw Committee, constituted for each draw by Regional Directorate of National Savings (RDNS), supervises the draw process. The draw committee comprises of a Chairman and four Members, one each from RDNS and an officer of the SBP BSC (Bank) office hosting the draw ceremony along with two incumbents from the local Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Chairman is selected amongst the local dignitaries such as journalists, lawyers, educationalists, businessmen, men of letters or prominent public servants. The Hand Operated Draw Machines (HODM), are used in all draws since 15th November, 2000, when the draw system was switched from series wise draw to manual single common draw system for all series Special children operate these HODMs for drawing winning numbers.

SBP BSC is also extending the facility of sale of bonds through cheques to the general public, mitigating the risk of carrying cash towards SBP BSC offices for purchase of prize bonds. Moreover, initiatives such as direct credit of prize money amount to claimant’s bank account and SMS notifications are also underway to facilitate general public.

The Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) in collaboration with State Bank of Pakistan initiated a new registered prize bonds scheme on March 10, 2017 called "Premium Prize Bonds (Registered)" parallel to the bearer National Prize Bonds Scheme. Contrary to the bearer bonds, the Premium Prize Bonds (Registered) is a prize bond registered in the name of the investor. These bonds are profit as well as prize money based as the investors not only receive 6 monthly profit against their investment in the said scheme but also have a chance to win prizes subject to compliance with shut period requirements. At present, one denomination of Rs. 40,000 premium prize bonds is offered to public.

For Premium Prize Bonds (Registered) of Rs. 40,000 denomination, there is one prize of Rs. 80 million, 3 prizes of Rs. 30 million each and 660 prizes of Rs. 0.5 million each are allocated. Additionally rate of profit notified by Federal Government shall also be paid if such bonds are held for minimum of six months, either from the date of issue or last profit paid.

 

       
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