What is Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana?
The Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) was launched on 09th May 2015 by the Government of India. It is a one-year life insurance scheme renewable from year to year offering coverage for death. The scheme is administered through both public and private sector insurance companies in tie-up with scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks, and cooperative banks.
The government has stressed heavily on the insurance sector as previously a larger section of the populace did not have access to insurance coverage. With the target to include the poor and the underprivileged section of the society, this social security scheme was envisaged to foster the spirit of inclusive growth tandem with the vision of ‘Sabka Saath Sab ka Vikas’. The PMJJBY is one of the three schemes launched under the Jan Suraksha initiative, with the other two being the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and the Atal Pension Yojana (APY).
Policy Features
- Easy Renewal – It provides life coverage for one year, and the policy can be renewed every year.
- Better Insurance Coverage – PMJJBY offers life insurance coverage of Rs. 2 Lakh at premium charges as low as Rs. 436 every year.
- No Maturity Benefits – The policy offers only coverage for life risks and no maturity benefits can be claimed since it is a term insurance plan.
- Only Savings Account Necessary – The policyholder needs to have a savings bank account to avail this plan and it can be bought at any partnered banks having tie-ups with LIC and other private insurance companies in India.
- Hassle-free Proceedings – The life insurance coverage starts 45 days after the date of enrolment. However, the sum assured amount will be paid in case of death due to an accident. Even if the policyholder exits from the scheme for any given reason, that person can simply re-join the scheme.
Policy Eligibility
The Eligibility Criteria of the policy are listed below:
- Any person who is between 18- 50 years old and has a savings account can enroll for this scheme through the participating banks.
- One can join this scheme with only one saving bank account even if they have multiple bank accounts.
- To avail of the benefits offered by this policy, it is mandatory to link your Aadhar card to the eligible/participatory bank account.
- Insurance buyers who join the scheme after the initial enrolment period, i.e., from the 31st of August 2015- the 30th of November 2015, must produce a self-attested medical certificate proving that he/she is not suffering from any critical illness as mentioned in the policy declaration form.
Policy Enrolment Process
The enrolment process for this scheme has been made simple and easy. PMJJBY is managed through LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India) and other private life insurance companies in India. Follow the below-listed steps to apply for a PMJJBY scheme online.
Step 1: Not all banks support the PMJJBY scheme. Please ensure that your bank offers it before thinking of applying.
Step 2: Visit your bank’s website and log in to your account via your debit card pin or net banking credentials (as applicable).
Step 3: Click on the tab titled “insurance”, select social services schemes, and choose the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana scheme under it.
Step 4: Select the account you wish to link to the PMJJBY policy (this account will be auto debited once every year)
Policy Benefits
- Tax benefits – All investments made towards the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana scheme come under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961. However, these laws are subject to change.
- Risk coverage – It covers all possible life risks. If the policyholder dies due to any reason, the death benefits are released to the beneficiaries of the policy. The coverage begins 45 days after the enrolment date. However, the sum assured amount will be paid in case of death due to an accident within those 45 days.
- Death benefits – Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana offers up to 2 lakh INR as death benefit in the event of death of the policyholder.
- Affordable Premiums – The basic premium amount for the PMJJBY policy is Rs. 436 and it reduces later based on the month of the enrolment. The amount is deducted directly from the associated bank account in an auto-debit manner.
Claim Process
The claim process of PMJJBY is very simple. Let’s take a look at how you can go about claiming the benefits.
Here’s what the beneficiary needs to do:
- The beneficiary should pay a visit to the bank whose savings account is linked to the scheme on the unfortunate demise of the policyholder. Here, the nominee needs to submit the death certificate of the insured along with the PMJJBY certificate downloaded from the website.
- Now, the claim form can be collected by the beneficiary from the bank or the insurer.
- Fill the claim form carefully.
- Submit the form along with the required documents like death certificate of the policyholder, bank account details, discharge receipt, photocopy of cancelled cheque, and bank details of the nominee.
- The beneficiary can do the PMJJBY status check online.
Here’s what the bank will do:
- On the submission of the claim form and all the documents, the bank needs to validate and verify the same.
- After verification, the bank submits the required documents to the insurance company.
- Then the insurance company verifies the details at their end.
- After successful verification of the documents and the claim form, the claim amount is transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account.
Conclusion
As the Indian population rises and the country showcases a strong growth potential, lack of financial inclusion is likely to be a major challenge faced by the country. Currently, ~72% of the Indian population resides in rural parts of the country and are highly dependent on daily wages for sustenance. The PMJJBY assures this population for their wellbeing and happiness.
With the government’s continuous efforts to enhance the social security awareness and strengthen the financially weaker section of the society, the PMJJBY scheme is expected to gain higher momentum in the future and meet its goal of achieving the country’s total financial inclusion. Further, amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown in 2020 and subsequently in 2021, the scheme has witnessed exponential growth (in enrolments) owing to continuous promotion as a pure protection term insurance by the government.
Frequently Asked Questions
The scheme will be a one-year cover Term Life Insurance Scheme, renewable from year to year, offering life insurance cover for death due to any reason.
Rs.2 lakhs is payable on a subscriber’s death due to any reason. The premium payable is Rs.436/- per annum per subscriber.
The assurance on the life of the member shall terminate / be restricted accordingly on any of the following events:
- On attaining age 55 years (age near birthday), subject to annual renewal up to that date (entry, however, will not be possible beyond the age of 50 years).
- Closure of account with the Bank or insufficiency of balance to keep the insurance in force.
- In case a member is covered through more than one account and premium is received by LIC / insurance company inadvertently, insurance cover will be restricted to Rs. 2 Lakh and the premium shall be liable to be forfeited.
- The scheme will be administered by LIC or any other Life Insurance company which is willing to offer such a product in partnership with a bank / banks.
- It will be the responsibility of the participating bank to recover the appropriate annual premium in one installment, as per the option, from the account holders on or before the due date through ‘auto-debit’ process and transfer the amount due to the insurance company.
- Enrollment form / Auto-debit authorization / Consent cum Declaration form in the prescribed proforma, as required, shall be obtained, and retained by the participating bank. In case of claim, LIC / insurance company may seek submission of the same. LIC / Insurance Company also reserve the right to call for these documents at any point of time.
- Insurance Premium to LIC /other 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.
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