Account Expansion:
- PMJDY has grown from 147 million accounts in March 2015 to 520 million in March 2024.
- Deposit mobilisation increased from Rs 15,600 crore in March 2015 to Rs 2.32 trillion in March 2024.
- Average balance increased from Rs 1,065 in March 2015 to Rs 4,476 in March 2024.
Expansion of Banking Infrastructure:
- Over 1.3 million banking touch points have been mapped on the Jan Dhan Darshak (JDD) App.
- As of July 2023, 99.7% of total mapped villages are covered with banking outlets.
Rural-Urban Parity:
- PMJDY achieved a milestone of 53.13 crore PMJDY accounts, with 55.6% being women and 66.6% being in rural and semi-urban areas.
Boost in Digital Payments:
- Total number of UPI financial transactions increased from 920 million in FY 2018 to 131.2 billion in FY 2024.
- RuPay card transactions at point of sale and e-commerce increased from 670 million in FY 2018 to 1.26 billion in FY 2023.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):
- PMJDY transferred about USD 361 billion directly to beneficiaries from 53 central government ministries.
Overdraft (OD) Accounts:
- As of March 2024, 1,17,701 overdraft facility have been opened with a sanctioned amount of Rs 190 crore to PMJDY account holders.
Low Zero Balance Accounts:
- Only 8.4% of accounts have zero balance.
Praised by the World Bank:
- India has achieved what would have taken about five decades in just six years.
What is PMJDY?
- PMJDY is a financial inclusion program aiming to ensure access to financial services in an affordable manner.
PMJDY Account Features and Challenges
Features:
- No minimum balance requirement for PMJDY accounts.
- Free Rupay Debit card provided to account holders.
- Accident Insurance Cover of Rs.1 lakh (enhanced to Rs. 2 lakh to new accounts opened since 2018).
- Overdraft facility up to Rs. 10,000 available to eligible account holders.
- Eligibility for DBT, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Bank (MUDRA) scheme.
- No mandatory free cheque book facility with a PMJDY account.
Challenges:
- Multiple accounts due to large insurance cover, accidental death benefit cover, and overdraft facility.
- Economic burden on banks due to persistent low balance accounts.
- Concerns about Jan Dhan accounts used for money laundering by black money operators.
- Declining Overdraft facility due to discretion of banks.
- Misuse of authority by Business correspondents (BCs) and potential bad loans.
- Financial and Technology Illiteracy among rural people.
Way Forward:
- Implement a centralized system to prevent duplication of accounts.
- Develop incentives for individuals to maintain a single account.
- Emphasize National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) to expand social security scheme penetration.
- Improve access to micro-credit and micro investment.
- Improve penetration of OD accounts.
- Focus on new focus areas to cover the entire adult population.
