C Krishniah Chetty and Sons, renowned Bangalore based jewellery house, has announced a first-of-its-kind 'Rate Protection Plan'; called The C. Krishniah Chetty and Sons - Gold Standard 1869 Rate Protection Plan for buying/ saving for gold, silver and diamond jewellery. %% This is a systematic savings and planning programme, which also protects the consumer by calculating the rate of the 3 big precious jewellery materials - Gold, Silver and Diamond. What is unique about this plan is that the programme automatically averages the rates of Gold, Silver and all sizes of diamonds that they handle. %% Keeping the fascination of Indians for investing in gold in mind and the recent fluctuation in bullion prices, C Krishniah Chetty and Sons introduced their Rate Protection Plan (originally in 1999 for their private clients and now launched to all members of the public) which safeguards their customers from any drastic dip or rise in prices. Official consumption of gold in the last quarter stands at 300 tonnes, the highest in last several years, which may cross 1000 tonnes for a 12 month period. %% According to a chief analyst at Geojit Comtrade in an interview conducted in July 2011, many investors worry about paper currencies and feel safer to keep in a metal they trust. Hence the Rate Protection Plan gives consumers a safe option for securing their future. %% "The C. Krishniah Chetty and Sons' Gold Standard 1869 Rate Protection Plan is symbolic of our commitment to our customers. It is a unique Rate Protection Plan best suited for salaried and business people alike", said Vinod Hayagriv, Managing Director, C. Krishniah Chetty and Sons. "Keeping with our ethos, we persevere to maximize the benefits derived by our clients at all times.", he added. %% Some of the more significant benefits of the plan include: %% • Amounts paid per installment may be changed to higher amounts at any time by the consumer, based on convenience and cash flow. %% • Period of savings may be from just 12 months to 60 months (5 years). %% • An option to pay one installment and take the benefits later by blocking the rate of metals and giving a discount later on the jewellery. %% •Giving the consumer a chance to decide what to buy at the time of maturity without having to specify this at the beginning. %% •Getting additional discounts and offers from time to time, at time of maturity. %% •Allowing consumer to skip installments and keep the maturity period fixed thereby all on-time payments get the benefits. %% •Having no upper limits, consumers may pay up to and above Rs1 lac or Rs 5 lacs or more per installment. (Mandatory PAN card numbers will be insisted for purchases over Rs5 lacs). %% •Offering multi-option payment methods such as cash, post dated cheques, DDs, bank transfers, Credit Cards. Online faciility is on the anvil. %% •Allowing extensions by 3 months or more (minimum 3 months at a time) before last installment is paid. %% • Being able to place custom-manufactured special orders with special designers. %% • Allowing purchases at maturity to be made at average gold/ silver/ diamond rates which is the rates averaged based on the due dates of payment (provided payments are made on time) or customers can also shift to the cash benefit method, whereby they can buy at 'current' day’s rate prevailing at their stores, whichever is beneficial to the consumer.