Govt plans to provide free accident cover for Jan Dhan account holders, may announce on August 15

The government is considering the options to provide free accident insurance to all account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and double the cover for those already eligible for life and accident insurance under the scheme. According to a report in the Economic Times,  the Centre is looking at the modalities and may make an announcement on August 15. PMJDY was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August 2014.

The flagship scheme was started with a target to provide universal access to banking facilities starting with basic saving bank account with an overdraft upto Rs 5000 subject to satisfactory operation in the account for six months and RuPay Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh. Till March 2018, 31.20 crore accounts were opened under the programme with  aggregate deposit balances Rs. 75,572.09 crore. Of these, 25.18 crore or 81 per cent Jan-Dhan accounts are operative.

According to the report, about 32 crore Jan Dhan account holders have life insurance cover of Rs 30,000. Account holders with a RuPay card – about 24 crore – are also eligible for Rs 1 lakh accident insurance cover. “One option is that all PMJDY account holders will be eligible for Suraksha Bima Yojana without paying any premium,” The ET quoted an official as saying.

Govt plans to provide free accident cover for Jan Dhan account holders, may announce on August 15

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, which was launched in May 2015, provides a cover of Rs 2 lakh for accidental death or total permanent disability and Rs 1 lakh in case of permanent partial disability for an annual premium of just Rs 12. Till March this year, the number of subscribers under the Yojana was 13.41 crore. “This can be extended to all PMJDY account holders who do not have RuPay cards,” the official said.

According to the ET, the government is also looking to ease certain eligibility restrictions in PMJDY. The report said that under this scheme, account holders can claim accident insurance only if they have used their RuPay card at least once in the prior 90-day period. While the focus of the first phase of PMJDY was on opening bank accounts, the second phase was aimed at complete financial inclusion by providing micro-insurance and pension schemes.

After launching the PMJDY, the Prime Minister himself had elaborated the benefits under the scheme. He said this was not a mere bank account, but had other benefits including an RuPay debit card, Rs 1 lakh accident insurance cover, and an additional Rs 30,000 life insurance cover for those opening bank accounts before January 26th, 2015.

source: businesstoday