Plain-language disclosure of how 14paisa classifies safe-yield products — the tier badges, the no-principal-loss logic, the official sources we cite, and how we stay editorially independent.
This page documents the framework behind every comparison on 14paisa. We assign each product to a tier, label principal-loss exposure honestly, and cite only the official regulator whose published number feeds the rate or rule shown on a product page.
14paisa is an educational comparison platform — we are not a SEBI-registered investment advisor. The methodology below is the basis on which we organise the comparison; the rest of this page is plain-language disclosure of how the methodology actually works.
We group every product into one of five tiers based on who backs the principal and what kind of risk (if any) the investor is taking. Tiers 1 and 2 carry an explicit no-principal-loss promise; tiers 3 and above carry credit or market risk.
Below is the per-product derivation of 14paisa's four-axis rubric — principal safety, liquidity, yield, tax efficiency — across every safe-yield product on the platform. Scores are computed from each product's existing tier, lock-in, yield, and tax field; we do not hand-maintain a separate score table, so the matrix stays in sync with product data.
Highlighted cells (★) are the best in column for that rubric axis. Cell scores reflect editorial ranking, not a precise IRR or default-probability estimate — verify specific binding terms with the issuer before investing.
"No principal loss" appears as a tag on 14paisa product cards and on the comparison engine. It is reserved for instruments that cannot, by definition, default on principal because the issuer is the Government of India — RBI-issued G-Secs (T-Bills, FRB), India Post small-savings schemes (PPF, NSC, SCSS, SSY, KVP, PO TD, MIS), and EPF.
DICGC-insured bank FDs are not in this tier (DICGC cover is contractual insurance, not sovereign guarantee), but they are protected up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank for the insured portion — we label those cards with the explicit "DICGC-insured up to ₹5 lakh" wording rather than the no-principal-loss tag.
Anything outside those two categories — sovereign-backed and DICGC-insured — carries credit risk. We never display the no-principal-loss tag on AAA / AA-rated bonds, NBFC FDs, dividend stocks, or NPS Tier-I with Active Choice equity allocation, regardless of credit rating. The tier badge and the no-loss tag together tell the whole story.
We do not generate rate data ourselves — every number on a product page traces back to one of these official publishers, with the AMFI NAV used as the authority for debt-fund yields.
Cross-check any bank or AMC marketing claim against the corresponding regulator's published data — sovereign and statutory limits (DICGC, NPS caps, EPF rate) cannot be exceeded regardless of what a private distributor offers.
14paisa is not a SEBI-registered investment advisor and does not earn referral fees from any issuer, distributor, or platform linked from a product page. Comparisons rank purely on the tier + risk methodology above — we never promote a higher-fee product over a lower-fee equivalent, and we never accept payment to boost a tier ranking or hide a credit-risk tag.
If a regulatory change or a CRA rating revision makes a product ineligible for its current tier, the product page is updated before any comparison is republished — we do not let a stale tier badge linger because it ranks well. Read the full disclosure in our disclaimer.
Rates are reviewed against the current RBI, India Post, AMFI, and SEBI publications on each product page update. The date at the top of this page (2026-08-04) reflects the last methodology review; product-level dates live on each individual product page so you can see how recent the rate snapshot is.
Open the comparison engine to see how 40+ safe-yield products sort across these five tiers.
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