Kameti in Pakistan: how a kameti works, and how to run one
A kameti (Urdu کمیٹی, “committee”) is a rotating savings group, and in Pakistan it is one of the most common ways families save together. A set of people agrees to put the same amount into a shared pot every month, and each month one member takes the whole pot. When everyone has had a turn, the kameti ends, or starts again with the same people.
In Pakistan the word is so common that people often just say “committee”. Some also call it a BC, short for “ballot committee”, because the order is set by a ballot. The same system exists in India under other names, but in Pakistan the kameti is the everyday word for it, and this guide is about how it works here.
Nobody earns interest and nobody pays any. Members who take the pot early get money when they need it and pay it back through later contributions. Members who take it late have been saving the whole time. Kametis are used for weddings, school fees, a deposit on a rented house, a motorbike, or stock for a small shop.
How does a kameti work in Pakistan?
- The organizer, often the most trusted person in the family, street or workplace, gathers the members. In many kametis this person is the head of the kameti, or simply the organizer.
- The group agrees the monthly amount, the day each payment is due, and the number of members. Ten members means ten months.
- Each month every member pays the organizer, in cash, by bank transfer, or by a mobile wallet such as JazzCash or Easypaisa.
- The organizer hands the full pot to that month’s member. The cycle continues until everyone has received it once.
Some kametis pay the head a small monthly fee for running the group. If yours does, agree the fee and write it down before the first payment, so it is never a surprise.
How are turns decided?
Most kametis draw names or ballots at the first meeting, often by putting slips of paper in a container. Others give an early turn to a member with a wedding coming up, or to the organizer as thanks for the work.
Many kametis also allow for life getting in the way. If a member has an emergency when their turn comes, the others often agree to let them take the pot early and wait for a later turn in return. Whatever the rule, agree it before the first payment and write it down. Disputes about who was meant to go first are the most common reason a kameti breaks up.
Why do families use a kameti?
A UK study of how Muslim women save money, which covers families with roots in Pakistan and other countries, found that many preferred the kameti to a bank loan. It is interest-free, it needs no bank account and no lengthy application, and the money comes quickly when someone needs it. The study also found that trust matters most, because the money is kept by people who know each other, and members have to keep paying after they receive their share. The report is worth reading for the details: How do Muslim women save money? (Muslim Women’s Council).
Pakistani newspapers have also looked at what goes wrong in committees. For a Pakistani view on the problems, see this Dawn piece on the faults in our committees.
What goes wrong in a kameti?
- A member stops paying after taking the pot. This is the biggest risk, because a kameti has no court or regulator to enforce payment. A default hurts everyone who is still waiting, which is why organizers usually invite people the group already knows and trusts.
- Late payments. The member due to receive the pot waits, and the organizer often covers the gap from their own pocket.
- Cash kept at home. Many kametis collect cash, and a missing payment is hard to prove months later. A dated record that every member can see protects the organizer as much as the members.
- Arguments about the order. When the order was never written down, two members can remember it differently. Write it down and show it to everyone.
How do you run a kameti with Savings Circle?
- Create the group. Choose “Kameti” as the name type if your group uses that word, or “Committee” if you prefer. Set the currency (Pakistani rupee is supported) and what each member pays per round.
- Add members from your contacts. They don’t need to install anything.
- Set the order. Run a random draw in front of everyone, or enter the order you agreed. A random draw saves its seed, so anyone can check later that it was not changed. Members can ask to swap turns, and the swap is recorded too.
- Record payments as they come in, by cash, bank or mobile wallet, with a screenshot as proof if you like. It works offline and syncs when you are back online.
- Remind the late ones. One tap opens WhatsApp, SMS or Telegram with a polite message ready to send.
- Record each payout. Every entry is dated. A correction is added as a new entry, and the original stays in the history.
Savings Circle never holds or moves money. Members pay the organizer the way they already do; the app is the shared record of who paid, who is next and what is owed.
Other names for the same idea
In Pakistan the same system is a committee, a kameti, a BC or a kitty, as in kitty party. Around the world it is a tanda in Mexico, a susu in Ghana, a chama in Kenya, an arisan in Indonesia and a paluwagan in the Philippines. Economists call all of these rotating savings and credit associations, or ROSCAs. Savings Circle works for any of them.
If you are in India and your group is run through a registered chit fund company, read our chit fund guide instead. The rules there are different.
Guides
- South Asia: committee, kameti, chit fund, bhishi, kitty party and samity
- Africa: susu, chama, ajo, adashe, equb, hagbad, stokvel, tontine, mukando and chilimba
- The Americas and the Caribbean: sou-sou, tanda, junta, lending circle and pardner
- Asia and the Pacific: arisan, paluwagan and hụi
- The Arab world: jam’iya