The number of accounts with zero balance under the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has dropped below 50 per cent, nearly a year since its launch.
Bankers claim that the rollout of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme for LPG — where subsidies are directly paid into consumer bank accounts — have had a positive impact.
According to data available on the PMJDY website, of the total number of accounts opened under the scheme, zero-balance accounts have declined to 46.48 per cent as on July 29 from 76.02 per cent as on September-end 2014.
“The DBT and social security schemes help in maintaining some saving deposits with the bank. Also, we have done a massive campaigning for financial literacy as part of the scheme to include every household,” said a State Bank of India official.
A maximum of two members of a family can have a zero-balance account under PMJDY and get benefits, such as life cover of ₹30,000 and accidental cover of ₹1 lakh per account, mobile banking facility, receive mini-statements, check account balance, and instant transfer of funds, among others, free of cost.
Of the 17.29 crore accounts opened since its launch in August last year, about eight crore accounts have zero balance.
In the rest of the accounts, all banks (public, private and regional rural banks) put together have managed to garner ₹20,769 crore as balance, with public sector banks accounting for ₹16,055 crore. Hence, the average balance per account stands at about ₹2,235 crore.
SBI, the country’s largest lender, has seen its zero-balance accounts come down to 56.7 per cent in July-end as against 93.8 per cent as on September-end last year. Other big nationalised lenders Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda saw a reduction to 50.85 per cent (76.15 per cent in September) and 37.33 per cent (52.18 per cent), respectively.
Among private sector banks, ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private lender, witnessed a sharp dip in zero balance accounts to 44.55 per cent from 92.76 per cent. HDFC Bank saw a decline to 38.62 per cent (77.89 per cent) while for Axis Bank zero balance accounts dropped to 56.74 per cent (77.35 per cent).
Banks have also issued a total of 15.26 crore RuPay debit cards.
PMJDY, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship financial inclusion scheme, now claims over 99 per cent household coverage under the formal banking system.