Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana Account Eligibility Criteria

A Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana account can be opened under the following conditions

1. Individuals with Indian nationality status are eligible to successfully open a Jan Dhan Yojana account.
2. An individual with no valid documents as proof for Indian nationality status can also open a Jan Dhan Yojana account, provided the concerned bank does the required background check on the individual and categorises him or her as 'low risk'
3. Minors aged above 10 years are also eligible to have a Jan Dhan Yojana account in any bank across the country. However, minors will require the support of guardians to administer the Jan Dhan account. Minors can also use RuPay Cards through which they can withdraw money from ATMs
4. Individuals who already have a basic savings account in operation with a bank can easily transfer or link their accounts to Jan Dhan Yojana accounts to avail of various benefits offered by the latter
5. Individuals who can submit any form of identity proof which is duly authorized by gazette officers can open a Jan Dhan Yojana account

Who can apply for Life Insurance under PMJDY Scheme?

To join this scheme, people needed to fulfill certain conditions before they could apply. Given below is a list of requirements set out by the government for anyone who wanted to avail of the life insurance benefits under this scheme:

1. Any person who opened a bank account between 15.08.14 to 31.01.15 for the first time with a RuPay card.
2. The person should be between the age group of 18 years to 59 years.
3. The person was expected to be an earning member of the family or the head of the family. If the head of the family is 60 years or above, then the second earning person of the family would be covered under this scheme on the condition that they fulfill the eligibility criteria.
4. The person must have a RuPay card and a bio-metric card linked to the bank account, or at least in the process of being linked.
5. Any bank account including small account was accepted.
6. Life insurance cover would be in effect as long as the RuPay card is valid and in force.
7. Under the Bima Scheme of the PMJDY, only one person of a family would be covered.
8. In the event a person has multiple cards or bank accounts, then the benefit will be applicable only on one card for one person per family.
9. Risk cover will begin as soon as the bank account is opened.
10. The life cover will be Rs.30,000 valid for a period of five years (till the end of FY 2019-20).
11. The scheme will be reviewed and the continuation of it will be determined suitably.

Who can apply for Personal Accident Insurance under PMJDY Scheme?

PMJDY also has the provision for Personal Accident Insurance for individuals who are eligible. Accident cover will payout Rs.1 lakh upon the accidental death

1. The RuPay card holder must have performed at least one successful financial 90 prior to the date of the accident.
2. Non-financial customer-induced transaction 90 prior to the date of the accident will also be accepted.
3. The transactions must be carried out at any bank branch, bank mitra, POS outlet, ATM, E-com and so on.
4. The day of the accident will be included for consideration of eligible transactions.
5. Transactions taking place on both intra-bank and inter-bank channels will be considered.
6. In case of two or more accounts, the accident cover will be available only in one account.

Who is not eligible for life insurance cover?

The following people will not qualify for life insurance cover under the PMJDY scheme:

1. State and Central Government employees, whether in service or retired, and their family members.
2. Employees of Public Sector Banks, Public Sector Undertakings, Entities owned by the Central Government, Entities owned by the State Government, or jointly held by State and Central Government, whether in service or retired, and their family members.
3. Any person whose income is taxable under the Income Tax Act, 1961, or are filing income tax returns annually, or has tax deducted at source from their income, and their family members.
4. Any person involved in the Aam Admi Bima Yojana which covers 48 occupations, and their family members.
5. Account holders who have life insurance cover from any other scheme of the bank have the option to choose between the existing cover or the PMJDY cover. The holder can get benefits only from one scheme.
6. Any person who does not fulfill the basic eligibility requirements of the PMJDY scheme.

How is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana different from previous financial inclusion plans?

While the previous financial inclusion plans focused on covering the maximum number of villages, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana primarily focuses on covering households.

Also, while the previous financial inclusion plans aimed at covering villages which had over 2000 citizens, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana aims to cover the entire country by extending services in Sub-Service Areas (one SSA covers 1000 to 1500 households).

What is the progress of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana?

As on December 24, 2015, the central government opened 19.5 crore accounts holding around Rs.27,696. The maximum number of accounts have so far been opened in Uttar Pradesh at 2.97 crores while the lowest deposit (per account) has been found in the state of Madhya Pradesh.