Jan Dhan: enrolees over 60 short-changed on life cover

A RuPay card under the Jan Dhan scheme may not be enough for nominees to get the death benefit of ₹30,000 when an account holder passes away. Some nominees found this out recently, to their surprise.

Gowramma (name changed), from Karnataka, passed away recently. State Bank of Mysore, where she is a Jan Dhan account holder, rejected the nominee’s claim for the death benefit of ₹30,000 as the deceased was above 60 years of age.

According to the Finance Ministry approved norms for life cover under the Jan Dhan scheme, the eligibility for risk cover ceases when a person turns 60.

These guidelines were framed long after the launch of the scheme and many elderly people had enrolled for the same when it was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in late August. Under the current norms, the account holder will have to exit the life insurance scheme the day he or she turns 60.

State Bank of Mysore has till date received four cases each claiming death benefit of ₹30,000 under the scheme.

Of them, two claims were rejected straightaway as the deceased were aged above 60, sources in the bank said.

The claims for the other two cases are being processed though the bank is not clear as to which LIC office the claim papers have to be sent for final settlement.

Public sector banks are in a state of confusion on the issue of handling claims. Even accident insurance claims are reaching the doorsteps of these banks.

Although the banks have till date issued 8.4 crore RuPay cards for over 10 crore Jan Dhan accounts, they do not want to foot the death benefit bill for the life cover. They are only keen on having a foolproof mechanism to pass on the claims to Life Insurance Corporation. Both LIC and the public sector banks are yet to firm up a seamless mechanism for claims settlement under the life cover promised under scheme.

On Wednesday, representatives of the Finance Ministry, Indian Banks’ Association and public sector banks held a meeting to discuss the nitty-gritty of claims settlement for the ₹30,000 death benefit promised under the scheme.

There is a need to map LIC branches with those of the banks so that claims could be processed seamlessly, said the chief executive of a public sector bank.

Currently, banks are not fully aware about how to take the process forward in case nominees come up with claims.

Indications are that the nominees will now be asked to furnish an affidavit confirming that the deceased was the head of the family or that he/she was an earning member of the family, and in the age group of 18-59.