What a jewellery kitty scheme is
Many Indian jewellers run a monthly savings scheme. Shops call it a kitty, a gold scheme, a savings plan or give it their own name. The idea is the same: a customer joins, pays a fixed amount every month for a set number of months, and when the scheme is complete, spends the total on jewellery from your shop.
For the customer it is a simple way to save for a wedding, Akshaya Tritiya or Dhanteras. For you it brings the customer back to the counter every month and keeps their jewellery purchase with your shop.
The money you collect is not yours to spend freely. It is an advance towards jewellery the member will buy later. So the scheme has to be tracked carefully: who paid, how much, on which date, and what each member is owed.
How the 11+1 gold scheme maths works
A common shape is the 11+1 scheme. The member pays 11 monthly instalments and the shop adds the 12th as a bonus. Each shop sets its own terms, so read the example below as an illustration, not a rule.
Say Meena joins at ₹5,000 a month. After 11 payments she has paid ₹55,000. The shop adds one instalment of ₹5,000 as its bonus, so at maturity she can buy jewellery worth ₹60,000. If the piece she picks costs more, she pays the difference on the bill. If it costs less, your scheme terms decide what happens to the rest.
Shops differ on the details. Some give the bonus only if every instalment was paid on time. Some give a discount on making charges instead of a bonus month. Some count each instalment as grams of gold at that day’s rate. Write your terms down when a member joins, and keep them fixed for that member even if you change the scheme for new members later.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Monthly instalment | ₹5,000 |
| Instalments the member pays | 11 |
| Total paid by the member | ₹55,000 |
| Bonus added by the shop (one instalment) | ₹5,000 |
| Value the member can spend at maturity | ₹60,000 |
What jewellers must track for every member
- The joining terms. Monthly amount, number of months, the bonus, and the start date, kept as they were on the day the member joined.
- Every instalment. The date, the amount, how it was paid (cash, UPI or card) and who at the shop collected it, with a receipt number.
- Who is late. Members whose next instalment date has passed, so someone calls or messages them.
- Maturity. When each member has paid all their instalments, and what they can now spend.
- Redemption. Which bill the scheme value was used on, so it can never be used twice.
- The total you hold. All the money collected from members that has not yet been turned into jewellery. Your CA will ask for this figure.
- What the member sees. A passbook or card the member can check, so there is no argument about how many months were paid.
What the law says about gold savings schemes
This section only repeats what the law texts say. It is not legal advice. Ask your CA or lawyer how these rules apply to your shop, your scheme terms and whether you run as a proprietor, a partnership, an LLP or a company.
The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019. Section 3 of this central Act bans unregulated deposit schemes: no deposit taker may promote, run, advertise or take deposits in one. The Act’s definition of a deposit, in section 2(4), leaves out some amounts. Clause (l)(i) leaves out an amount received in the course of business, with a genuine connection to that business, as an advance or part payment for the supply of goods, which is repayable if the goods are not supplied. In plain words, the Act treats a genuine advance for jewellery differently from a deposit that simply earns a return. A proviso to the same clause adds a condition: if such an advance becomes refundable, it is treated as a deposit once fifteen days have passed from the date the refund fell due. So a refund owed to a member should not be left pending.
The Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 2014. If your jewellery business is a company, rule 2(1)(c)(xii)(a) says an advance for the supply of goods is not a deposit if it is set against the supply of those goods within 365 days of the date the advance was accepted. So for a company, when the advance is set against a bill matters.
GST. Jewellery carries 3% GST on the bill when the member buys their piece, as on any other jewellery sale. How scheme instalments and the bonus should show in your GST returns is a question for your CA.
What this means for your records: you should be able to show, for every member, when each rupee came in and the bill it was used against. Good kitty scheme software gives you that trail without extra work.
How kitty scheme software tracks instalments and maturity
A paper register or an Excel sheet works when you have ten members. At a hundred, instalments get missed, the bonus gets argued over, and nobody is sure how much the shop holds. Kitty scheme software does the counting for you.
Look for software that freezes each member’s joining terms, so a change to the scheme later does not change what an old member was promised. Each instalment should get a receipt number, a payment method and the name of the person who collected it. The software should work out the next due date, flag late members and mark a scheme as matured only when every instalment is in.
Reminders matter most. A short WhatsApp message a day or two before each instalment is due brings in more payments on time than a phone call after it is late. A link the member can open to see their own passbook saves your staff from answering the same question every month.
At maturity, the scheme value should come off the jewellery bill at the counter, like a payment, and the scheme should then close so it cannot be used again. Finally, you want one screen that shows what you hold for all members, who has paid this month, who is late and who matures next.
Questions to ask before you choose kitty scheme software
- If I change my scheme terms, what happens to members who joined earlier?
- Can a member see what they have paid without calling the shop?
- Are reminders sent on their own before each instalment, or does someone have to send them?
- Can my staff edit or delete an instalment once it is recorded? Who can, and is it logged?
- How does the scheme value come off a jewellery bill, and can it be used twice?
- Can I see in one place how much money I hold for all members today?
- Can my CA get the scheme figures in Excel?
Other software with savings schemes
Scheme modules are common in jewellery software. Two examples, from each vendor’s own page, checked 1 November 2026:
BUSY. BUSY’s jewellery shop page lists “Scheme Management (Monthly Gold Saving Scheme)” and an “EMI / Instalment Scheme”, and says it tracks “monthly deposits, maturity dates, and scheme settlements”, with automatic payment reminders. It also covers full accounting (balance sheet, profit and loss, trial balance), e-invoices and e-way bills, a mobile app for the owner and backup to Google Drive. Prices are not published on their website.
Online Munim. Online Munim’s jewellery page lists a “Monthly Saving Scheme” and says “Our software lets you create a saving scheme.” It is cloud-based and also lists girvi (money lending) and RFID tagging, which CaratOS does not have, plus barcode tagging and fingerprint sign-in. The page does not publish fixed prices; it offers a free sign-up.
Pick the one whose scheme rules match yours. Ask each to run a member through 11 instalments, a late payment and a redemption in the demo.
How CaratOS runs kitty schemes
Kitty schemes are part of Customers and schemes in CaratOS, on the Growth plan (₹3,999 a month, GST included).
Monthly schemes with a bonus month. Set up a scheme like an 11+1 and put customers in it. CaratOS tracks each member’s payments.
Reminders on WhatsApp. CaratOS reminds each member on WhatsApp before an instalment is due, once your shop’s WhatsApp is connected. See everything CaratOS sends on WhatsApp.
A passbook link for each member. Every member gets a private link showing what they have paid and what is next, shared on WhatsApp.
Your schemes at a glance. One screen shows what you hold for members, who has paid this month, who is late, who matures next and what the shop adds at maturity.
Redeem against a bill. At maturity, the scheme value comes off the member’s jewellery bill, alongside old gold, cash and UPI. See Billing and old gold.
Ask in plain words. With AI assistants on Growth, ask “Which kitty instalments are due this week?” or have an instalment recorded for you. See AI assistants.
CaratOS runs in the browser at app.caratos.co.in on a phone, tablet or computer, in English or Hindi. It does not do girvi (gold loans) or RFID, and there is no Android app; CaratOS Desktop is coming soon. If your scheme counts grams of gold rather than rupees, ask us in the demo how it fits.
See kitty schemes in a demo
Bring your scheme card or register to a demo. Book a demo and we will set up your scheme in CaratOS, add a member, record a few instalments and redeem it on a bill in front of you. See plans on pricing, and read the shop management guide for the rest of the shop.
Sources (checked 1 November 2026)
Questions shop owners ask
What is a kitty scheme in a jewellery shop?
It is a monthly savings plan run by a jeweller. The customer pays a fixed amount every month for a set number of months and then spends the total on jewellery from that shop, often with a bonus from the shop. Each shop sets its own terms.
How is an 11+1 gold scheme calculated?
The member pays 11 monthly instalments and the shop adds one more as a bonus. At ₹5,000 a month, the member pays ₹55,000, the shop adds ₹5,000, and the member can buy jewellery worth ₹60,000. Your own scheme terms decide the bonus and what happens if a payment is late.
Is a jeweller’s gold savings scheme legal?
The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019 bans unregulated deposit schemes, but its definition of a deposit leaves out a genuine business advance for the supply of goods that is repayable if the goods are not supplied. For companies, the Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 2014 add a 365-day limit for setting an advance against goods. Ask your CA or lawyer how this applies to your scheme.
Does GST apply to kitty scheme instalments?
Jewellery carries 3% GST on the bill when the member buys their piece. How the instalments and the bonus show in your GST returns depends on your scheme terms, so check with your CA.
Which CaratOS plan has kitty schemes?
Growth, at ₹3,999 a month with GST included. It includes kitty schemes with a passbook link for each member, WhatsApp reminders, loyalty points and gift vouchers. Starter (₹1,199 a month) does not include kitty schemes.
Can a member check their kitty payments themselves?
In CaratOS, yes. Each member gets a private passbook link on WhatsApp that shows what they have paid and what is next, without calling the shop.
Can I try CaratOS before paying?
You can request a 15-day Starter trial, with no card needed. It starts when CaratOS approves your request. Kitty schemes are on Growth, so book a demo to see them working with your own scheme.