Best Recurring Deposit Rates in India (November 2026)

A recurring deposit is the quiet workhorse of Indian saving: a fixed amount every month, a fixed rate, a fixed maturity. Nothing in it can surprise you — which is exactly why it suits the money you cannot afford to see shrink. This post covers where RD rates actually stand as of November 2026, how the maturity maths works, the tax mechanics that eat into the headline, and where an RD genuinely beats a fixed deposit or an SIP — and where it does not.

The rates here follow the same verification rule as our fixed-deposit rates post: the Post Office number comes from India Post's own page; bank rates come from the banks' cards where they would load, else from two independent aggregators, flagged as such — bank RD rates change without notice, so confirm before you book.

The headline rates: Post Office versus banks

Sources: India Post's official savings-schemes page — RD at 6.7% per annum, quarterly compounded, for the October-December 2026 quarter (small-savings rates are reset quarterly; the next revision is due December 31, 2026, as our MIS post notes). SBI's RD rate of 6.80% general and 7.30% for senior citizens on the 1-2 year slab is per Scripbox and BankBazaar rate trackers, both as of November 2026 — SBI's own rate page would not load for this check, so treat the figure as aggregator-reported. HDFC Bank's RD sits near 6.6% for 1-2 years (about 7.1% for seniors) per the same trackers, within the bank's published 5.50-7.00% RD range. Confirm every bank figure on the bank's page before booking.

Two structural notes the table hides. The Post Office RD pays no senior-citizen premium — the 6.7% is the same for everyone — while bank RDs follow the industry convention of +0.50% for residents over 60, matching the FD pattern in our fixed-deposit post. And big-bank RD rates broadly track their own FD cards for the matching tenor, which is why the RD-versus-FD decision is rarely about the rate; it is about the cash-flow shape.

The maturity maths, checked

RD interest compounds quarterly, and each month's instalment compounds for the period it actually stays in. Run the arithmetic on the Post Office RD:

• ₹5,000 a month for 5 years at 6.7% matures at about ₹3,58,800 on ₹3,00,000 invested — roughly ₹58,800 of interest (quarterly compounding simulated month by month; your passbook figure may differ by a few rupees on rounding).
• ₹10,000 a month for 1 year at 6.7% matures at about ₹1,25,100 on ₹1,20,000 invested.
• The same ₹10,000 monthly for a year at SBI's aggregator-reported 6.80% matures at about ₹1,25,200 — a few hundred rupees more than the Post Office on this short tenor, before you weigh sovereign backing.

The site's RD calculator runs your own instalment and tenor through the same compounding. Note the yield trap the FD post describes: the headline rate understates the effective annualised yield because instalments made later in the tenure earn less — an RD is not a lump sum wearing a disguise.

Where to book: the practical ladder

1. India Post RD for the sovereign-backed default: 6.7%, no senior premium, no maximum, a five-year lock with the specific early-exit rules below, and passbook portability across post offices.
2. Your own bank's RD for convenience: the instalment can auto-debit from the salary account on payday, which makes the RD the cheapest discipline machine available. Rates sit near the FD card — typically 6.2-6.8% at big banks on one-to-two-year tenors.
3. Small finance bank RDs when the rate matters most: these banks price RDs well above big-bank cards on comparable tenors, and the deposits carry the same DICGC insurance as any bank — the ₹5 lakh per-bank cap applies to RD balances exactly as our deposit-insurance post explains. Check the bank's RD page and the premature-withdrawal penalty before committing.

The rules that surprise people

• Post Office RD defaults are cheap but compounding-slowing: miss a monthly instalment and a default fee of ₹1 per ₹100 of the monthly deposit applies for the default period — ₹100 for a ₹10,000 instalment — and the account's maturity stretches accordingly. Four consecutive defaults discontinue the account (it can be revived within the permitted window). Source: India Post RD rules.
• Post Office RD early exit is genuinely expensive: premature closure is allowed only after three years, and on closure the interest paid is the Post Office savings-account rate for the completed period — not the RD rate. Source: India Post RD premature-closure rules. Bank RDs are kinder: they typically pay the FD rate for the completed tenure minus a small penalty, but check the card.
• Bank RD interest attracts TDS exactly like FD interest: banks deduct 10% TDS once the interest they pay you in a financial year crosses ₹50,000 (₹1,00,000 for senior citizens), counting RD interest together with FD interest from the same bank — RDs have been inside this computation since 2015. No PAN means 20% TDS; Form 15G/15H stops the deduction where total income is below the taxable limit. Source: Income Tax Department TDS thresholds, as applied in our fixed-deposit post.
• Interest is taxed at your slab rate — there is no special RD rate, and the new tax regime offers no 80C deduction for the deposit either. The RD is a discipline tool, not a tax tool.

RD versus FD versus SIP: the honest comparison

Same ₹10,000 a month, same five years — three homes for the money, maturity values checked:

The FD line beats the RD line because a lump sum compounds from day one while RD instalments arrive progressively — that is a timing difference, not a product difference. The SIP line beats both in expectation and carries equity drawdown risk along with it; at a 10% assumption it matures nearer ₹7,74,400, and a bad five-year window can land below the RD. Sources for rates: India Post (6.7%); SBI 5-year FD and the FD comparison from our fixed-deposit rates post (2 November 2026); SIP arithmetic assumes monthly compounding at the stated rate.

Read that table as a sequencing guide, which is exactly how our first-principles framework ranks the money: the RD earns its place for near-term goals (12-60 months) and salary-day discipline, the FD for lump sums you already hold, and the SIP for horizons beyond five years where equity risk has time to wash out. Using a five-year RD for a 15-year goal costs real money — the SIP line's ₹1 lakh edge is what discipline forgone looks like at 6.7%.

Who should run an RD right now

• The first-time saver building the habit and the emergency fund in parallel — ₹5,000 auto-debited on payday is the habit made structural. (For the fund itself, prefer sweep-capable instruments; the emergency-fund guides explain why instant access beats any RD.)
• Goal-based savers with dated, non-negotiable outflows — school fees next April, a wedding contribution in 18 months, a vehicle down payment in two years. Fixed rate, fixed date, zero market risk.
• Parents and guardians parking a child's gift money in instalments at the Post Office, where the account can be operated per the scheme's minor rules.
• Retirees topping up monthly income alongside the Post Office MIS — MIS pays out a fixed monthly sum on a lump (7.4% for the current quarter, per our MIS post), while the RD builds the next corpus; the two pair naturally.

What goes wrong with RDs

• The forgotten instalment. Miss four months at the Post Office and the account discontinues; at banks, the auto-debit bounces and fees may apply. Keep one month's instalment as buffer in the source account.
• Breaking early for a want. A Post Office RD broken before three years earns savings-account interest — effectively gifting back the yield. Bank RDs are softer but still penalised. Never fund an RD whose date you do not control.
• The TDS surprise. A couple of large RDs plus FDs at one bank quietly crosses ₹50,000 of annual interest; 10% TDS follows. Plan the per-bank split (our FD post's ladder logic) or file 15G/15H where eligible.
• Using RDs for retirement money. At 6.7% against a long horizon, the RD line in the comparison above is what a 15-year goal looks like under-served. Fixed income for the long run belongs in EPF/PPF at 7.1-8.25% with their tax advantages — our retirement schemes guide maps them.

The verdict

The best RD rate in India as of November 2026 is the one that matches your discipline problem: the Post Office's 6.7% for sovereign-backed, five-year goal money; your own bank's RD for payday automation at big-bank rates; small-finance-bank RDs when the extra half-point matters and the DICGC cap covers the balance. Compare maturity values for the same instalment and tenor — the site's RD calculator does the compounding — and keep the RD for horizons where certainty is the feature, not the bug.

This is educational content, not investment advice. Consult a SEBI-registered advisor for decisions specific to your situation.