PRADHAN MANTRI JAN DHAN YOJANA – GOVERNMENT SCHEME
News: Only half of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
insurance claims settled in two years
What is in the news?
● In
the last two financial years, only 329 claims for accident insurance cover
provided to bank account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY) have been settled out of the 647 claims that were filed.
● Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is the National
Mission for Financial Inclusion.
Aim:
● To
ensure access to financial services,
namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance,
Pension in an affordable manner.
Launch year: 2014
Objectives of the scheme:
1. Banking the unbanked:
● Opening of basic savings
bank deposit (BSBD) accounts with minimal paperwork,
relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero
charges.
2. Securing the unsecured:
● Issuance
of indigenous debit cards for cash
withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance
coverage of Rs. 2 lakhs.
3. Funding the unfunded:
● Other
financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption,
micro-pension & micro-credit.
Accident insurance provision:
1. Women card holders
- The accident insurance cover for death or permanent disability is extended to
all the 48.65 crore account holders, out of which more than 50% are women. No premium is charged from account holders.
2. Condition for insurance claim
- Under the PMJDY, a RuPay debit card is provided to account holders. The key
condition to avail the accident insurance is that the beneficiary must have
performed at least one successful
transaction (financial or non-financial) using the card in the 90 days
prior to date of accident. This condition can make filing claims difficult.
3. Insurance cover increase
- Originally, an accident insurance cover of ₹1 lakh was offered and later
enhanced to ₹2 lakh for new accounts
opened after August 28, 2018.
4. Discontinuation of life insurance cover: In
the original scheme, the government had also announced a life insurance cover
of ₹30,000 to the PMJDY account holders. But, this facility had been
discontinued since March 2020.
5. Current status
- As of March 2023, these 48.65 crore
PMJDY bank accounts have a total deposit of ₹1,98,844.34 crore. But 4.03
crore of these accounts hold zero balance.