In a move to provide social security cover to the common man, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three schemes – Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) on May 9, 2015. Among them, the PMJJBY is in force since June 1, 2015. It is a helpful insurance scheme that provides adequate and affordable social protection to all citizens for a premium of Rs 330 per annum per subscriber.
Offering a renewable one year life cover of Rs 2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years, this scheme aims at universal access to essential life insurance coverage in a convenient manner linked to auto-debit of premium from bank accounts. PMJJBY is a progressive step towards improving insurance awareness and insurance penetration in the country.
Through PMJJBY, the Union government aims at bringing all sections of society under the insurance cover as presently, 80-90 per cent people in the country do not have any insurance cover. Under this scheme, an annual premium of Rs 330 per subscriber has to be paid by a saving bank account holder in the age group of 18-50 years to avail this renewable one year life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh, payable in case of death of the scheme member due to any reason.
In case the person holds multiple saving bank accounts in one or different banks, he can join the PMJJBY through one savings bank account only.
Under it, a sum of Rs. 2 lakh is payable to the nominee of the scheme member in the event of the death of the insured due to any reason. There no conditions attached to the death benefit barring that policy is in force and all due premiums, service tax, etc have been paid in full. However, it should be noted that neither maturity benefit nor surrender benefit is payable under this policy, as it is a Term Life Insurance Scheme.
Through SMS: Eligible customers get an SMS asking them to respond as ‘PMJJBY <space> Y’. When the customer replies as ‘PMJJBY <space> Y’, he/she is enrolled for the scheme, and gets an acknowledgement message for receipt of the response.
The scheme relies on banking system for its smooth functioning. The nominee’s name/ relationship and date of birth are solely drawn from the concerned details submitted in the savings account.
The application for enrolment in PMJJBY is not processed if the nominee details are not available in core banking records.
The annual premium for the policy is paid through the auto debit mode from the savings account and in case of non-payment of the premium fails due to any reason, the scheme member loses the insurance cover.
Through Net Banking: A customer can login to Net Banking and click on the ‘Insurance’ tab. He will need to select the PMJJBY scheme as well as select the Account through which the policy premium has to be paid. He has the option to retain the existing Savings Account nominee or add a new nominee. He also needs to sign a good self-health declaration. After all this, the system displays complete details of the PMJJBY and upon clicking ‘Confirm’, he gets the Acknowledgement with a unique reference number, which can be downloaded, and saved for future reference.
PMJJBY is renewable from year to year. The scheme member has to pay a premium of Rs 330 per annum that means less than one rupee per day and Rs 27.5 per month. It is deducted from the account holder’s savings bank account through ‘auto debit’ facility in one instalment. So, it is important to maintain the required balance in the respective bank account and renew the policy each year.
The annual instalment is paid on or before 31st May of each annual coverage period under the scheme. Beyond this date, renewal is possible on payment of full annual premium and submission of a self-declaration of good health. For their convenience, members may give one-time mandate for auto-debit every year as long as the scheme is in force.
The scheme is open to all citizens of India in the age-group of 18 to 50 years, holding savings bank account t in any of the participating bank accounts with balance sufficient for payment of the premium of Rs 330. The applicants must have Aadhar card as the primary KYC for the bank account. It is essential for the applicant to provide the nominee’s name and details about the relationship. Apart from submitting a duly filled application form, the applicant must provide a self-certification of good health.
Death Claim:
The nominee of the deceased scheme member will be eligible for claim amount of Rs 2 lakh in relation to the death benefit under the scheme.
Master policy holder for the scheme
This low cost life insurance scheme is offered / administered through Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and other life insurance companies, in collaboration with participating banks who are the master policy holders. LIC/chosen insurance company will implement a simple and subscriber friendly administration & claim settlement in consultation with the participating bank.
In fact, the discretion to engage any life insurance company for implementing this scheme for their subscribers lies with the participating banks. They will bear the responsibility to recover the annual premium in one installment, as per the option, from the account holders on or before the due date through ‘auto-debit’ process. They shall remit the premium to insurance companies every year when received.
Termination of assurance:
The life cover shall terminate or be curtailed in any of the following situations:
Conclusion
With a life cover of Rs. 2 lakh at a low annual premium of just Rs 330 per annum, PMJJBY is a great step towards inclusion of the vast population of India under the social security cover. It stands to immensely benefit all citizens of the country. It is boon for the teeming millions of the poor who have largely no life cover.
Table 1: PMJJBY in a Nutshell
Table 2: Break-up of the premium under PMJJBY:
Insurance Premium to LIC / insurance company: Rs.289/- per annum per member
Reimbursement of Expenses to BC/Micro/Corporate/Agent: Rs.30/- per annum per member
Reimbursement of Administrative expenses to participating Bank: Rs.11/- per annum per member
Total – Rs 330