In exercise of the powers conferred by clause
(xiii) of sub-section (2) of section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of
1961), the Central Government hereby makes the following scheme, namely:- (1) This scheme may be called the Equity Linked Savings Scheme, 2005. (2) It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official
Gazette. In this scheme, unless the context otherwise
requires : (a) "Act" means the Income-tax Act (43 of 1961) (b) "assessee" means: (i) an individual; or (ii) a Hindu undivided family; or (iii) an association of persons or a body of individuals consisting, in either
case, only of husband and wife governed by the system of community of property
in force in the State of Goa and Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli
and Daman and Diu by whom, or on whose behalf, investment is made; (c) "investment" means an investment in Units of the Unit Trust or
a Mutual Fund by an assessee under a plan formulated in accordance with this
scheme; (d) "Mutual Fund" means any Mutual Fund specified under Clause
(23-D) of section 10 of the Act; (e) "plan" means any plan formulated in accordance with this
scheme; (f) "Unit Trust" means the 'Administrator' referred to in clause
(a) or the 'specified company' referred to in clause (h) of section 2 of the
Unit Trust of India (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal) Act, 2002 (58 of
2002); [1][(g) "Year" means a year commencing from the date of allotment
or holding of units, as the case may be, in the plan]; (h) words and
expressions used herein and not defined shall have the meanings respectively,
assigned to them in the Income-tax Act. (a) Amount to be invested in a plan of the Unit Trust or of a Mutual Fund
shall be in multiples of Rs. 500 with a minimum of Rs. 500. (b) The Unit Trust or a Mutual Fund shall allot the Units in respect of all
complete applications, made in the form specified by that Trust or Fund, not
later than on 31st March, every year. (c) The plan shall be open for a minimum period of one month during the
financial year 2005-06 and a minimum period of three months during the
subsequent years. (d) Investment in the plan will have to be kept for a minimum period of
three years from the date of allotment of units. After the said period of three
years, the assessee shall have the option to tender the units to the Unit Trust
or the Mutual Fund, for repurchase. (e) In the event of the death of the assessee, the nominee or legal heir, as
the case may be, shall be able to withdraw the investment only after the
completion of one year from the date of allotment of the units to the assessee
or anytime thereafter. Units issued under the plan can be transferred,
assigned or pledged after three years of its issue. (a) The funds collected under a plan shall be invested in equities,
cumulative convertible preference shares and fully convertible debentures and
bonds of companies. Investment may also be made in partly convertible issues of
debentures and bonds including those issued on rights basis subject to the
condition that, as far as possible, the non-convertible portion of the
debentures so acquired or subscribed, shall be disinvested within a period of
twelve months. (b) It shall be ensured that funds of a plan shall remain invested to the
extent of at least eighty per cent. in securities specified in clause (a). The
Unit Trust and Mutual Fund shall strive to invest their funds in the manner
stated above within a period of six months from the date of closure of the plan
in every year. In exceptional circumstances, this requirement may be dispensed
with by the Unit Trust or the Fund, in order that the interests of the assessee
are protected. (c) funds in short-term money market instruments or other liquid instruments
or both. After three years of the date of allotment of the units, the Unit
Trust or Mutual Fund may hold upto twenty per cent of net assets of the plan in
short-term money market instruments and other liquid instruments to enable them
to redeem investment of those unit holders who would seek to tender the units
for repurchase. (a) The Unit Trust and other Mutual Funds shall announce the repurchase
price one year after the date of allotment of the units and thereafter on a
half-yearly basis. (b) After a period of three years from the date of allotment of units, when
the repurchase of units is to commence, the Trust and the Mutual Fund shall
announce a repurchase price every month or as frequently as may be decided by
them. (c) In calculating the repurchase price, the Unit Trust and the Mutual Fund
shall take into account the unrealised appreciation in the value of the
investment of the funds of a plan to the extent they deem fit provided that it
shall not be less than fifty per cent of such unrealised appreciation. While
calculating the repurchase price, the Unit Trust and Mutual Funds may deduct
such sums as are appropriate to meet management, selling and other expenses including
realisation of assets and such sums shall not exceed five per cent per annum of
the average Net Asset Value of a plan. (d) Repurchase of Units will be at the repurchase price prevailing on the
date the units are tendered for repurchase. The investment made in any plan by an assessee will
be acknowledged by the Unit Trust and Mutual Fund by issue of certificate of
investment or a statement of account as may be decided by them. (a) A plan operated by Unit Trust or a Mutual Fund would be terminated at
the close of the 10th year from the year in which the allotment of units is
made under the plan. (b) If ninety per cent or more of the units under any plan are repurchased
before completion of ten years, the Unit Trust and Mutual Fund may at their
discretion, terminate that plan even before the stipulated period of ten years;
and redeem the outstanding units at the final repurchase price to be fixed by
them. The Unit Trust or the Mutual
fund may at their discretion operate one Open Ended Equity Linked Saving Plan
with the prior approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India
established under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of
1992).][2] EQUITY
LINKED SAVINGS SCHEME, 2005