What is a kameti or committee?

What does kameti mean?

Kameti means committee. The Muslim Women’s Council says the word literally translates as committee in English, so you’ll hear people say they’re “in a committee” or talk about committee money. It describes the practice as a long-standing tradition among South Asian women, going back to the early 1970s and still very popular.

How a kameti works

1. Members agree the monthly amount and the rules before anyone pays.
2. Names are drawn, often out of a hat, to set the order.
3. Each month everyone pays the head of the committee.
4. The head of the committee hands the whole pot to that month’s member, often in cash.
5. It ends when every member has had the pot once.

The Muslim Women’s Council gives this example. Ten members each pay £500 a month, so each month one member receives £5,000. The kameti runs for ten months, and everyone pays in £5,000 and gets £5,000 back. Add two members and the pot and the length both grow.

The report also says the order can bend. If someone due in the ninth month has a family emergency, other members will usually swap places with them.

What the words mean

Kameti or committee

The savings circle itself.

Head of committee

The person who collects from everyone and pays out the pot. One woman in the report calls the organiser of her group the “Kameti Aunty”.

The draw

Picking the order at random, usually before the first payment.

Why people use a kameti

In a 2021 focus group of 50 women in Bradford run by the Muslim Women’s Council, 70% said they had taken part in a kameti at some point. They gave practical reasons. It’s interest-free, which matters because Islamic law forbids paying or charging interest. There are no bank forms or approvals. And the set amount makes saving easier, because members treat the payment as a matter of honour and pay it first.

People use the pot for weddings, funerals, home repairs, cars and furniture. Because the payout can come in cash on the day, it also helps in an emergency.

Kameti or chit fund?

A chit fund works on the same rotating idea, but in India many are run by registered companies. Economist Stefan Klonner writes that Chit Funds Acts govern these companies. They advertise for members, who often don’t know each other, and the company makes sure everyone keeps paying. A kameti is a private arrangement between people who do know each other, with nobody behind it but the group.

What can go wrong

The same report is frank about the risks:

• People have joined communities to set up large kametis as scams, taking thousands of pounds.
• A head of committee holding a lot of cash can be robbed, and nothing covers the loss.
• A member who can’t keep paying may lose what they’ve put in.

One woman in the report had paid almost £1,000 into a kameti when the organiser left town without telling anyone. In the UK these schemes are unregulated, says MoneyHelper, and a spokesperson for the compensation scheme told Hyphen that rotating savings groups aren’t eligible for its protection. If a member stops paying, read what to do when someone stops paying.

This guide is general information and isn’t legal or financial advice.

Running a kameti

Keep it to people you know well, write the rules down and keep a record of every payment. Our free rota and pot calculator does the draw for you and lists the date of each payout. The steps in how to start a pardner work for a kameti too, and our list of savings circle names covers the other names for the same idea.

Where CircleSave fits

CircleSave keeps the record for your kameti. Everyone can see who has paid and whose turn is next, and members get reminders on WhatsApp. We never hold the money, because members pay whoever’s turn it is directly, so there’s no pile of cash for anyone to take. We can’t promise everyone will pay. A circle can have up to 10 people.