Insurance And Overdraft Facility Enhanced For Jan Dhan Account Holders

On the sixth anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, the finance ministry announced the extension of the financial inclusion scheme with new features. The ministry in its notification said that the PMJDY will now move its focus from 'Every Household' to Every Unbanked Adult.'

For these accounts opened after 28 August 2018, the free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. Overdraft facilities have also been doubled from Rs 5,000 to Rs Rs 10,000 with OD up to Rs 2,000 available without conditions.

The upper age limit on OD has been raised from 60 years to 65 years.

The insurance schemes available to PMJDY holders are the PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and PM Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). Among these, the Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is available to people in the age group of 18 to 50 years with risk coverage of Rs 2 lakh at a premium of Rs 330 per annum.

The Suraksha Bima Yojana is accident insurance, available to 18-70-year olds. The risk coverage under the scheme is Rs 2 lakh at a premium of Rs 12 per annum for accidental death or full disability and Rs 1 lakh for partial disability.

As per extant RBI guidelines, a PMJDY account is treated as inoperative if there are no customer induced transactions in the account for over a period of two years. According to the ministry's statement, in August 2020, out of total of 40.35 crore PMJDY accounts, 34.81 crore (86.3 percent) are operative.