Over 15 lakh Jan Dhan accounts put on notice

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

More than 15 lakh Jan Dhan bank accounts in Punjab and Haryana are facing the risk of closure because they are inoperative for several months and have zero balance, banking sources said.

The RBI has directed the banks to close such accounts after giving a 30-day notice to the account holders. Those who want to retain their accounts will have to operate them within these 30 days, the sources said.

“These zero-balance accounts are in existence for a long period. So, please send the notices to the account holders to operate the account and if they fail to do so, then close their account,” said RBI Regional Director Rachna Dixit at a bankers meet on Thursday.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2014 and was formally launched by him on August 28, 2014 across the country. Under the yojana, banks undertook door-to-door enrolling campaign and also held camps in villages.

According to data, total beneficiaries of the PMJDY across the country are over 32 crore and their total deposits are Rs 81,197 crore as on August 8, 2018. The percentage of zero-balance accounts in Punjab and Haryana is 13% and 10%, respectively.

In Punjab, out of total 66.28 lakh accounts opened under the PMJDY, around 8.76 lakh accounts (13.21%) have zero balance up to June 30, 2018. The banks having high percentage of zero balance accounts are ICICI Bank (65.20%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (56.77%), Axis Bank (37.64%), HDFC Bank (26.67%) and IDBI Bank (26.45%).

In Haryana, 6.50 lakh accounts were having zero balance as on June 30, 2018 out of the 65.82 lakh total accounts opened under the PMJDY scheme. The percentage of zero-balance accounts is 10%, marginally lower than Punjab.

In Haryana, the banks having maximum zero-balance accounts are Kotak Mahindra Bank (51%), followed by ICICI Bank (39%) and Yes Bank (48%).

Bankers presume that several account holders could be having multiple accounts and, therefore, some accounts are inoperative. They said the accounts were opened by the account holders in anticipation that they would get benefits from the government.

“Although bank accounts are indeed the first step for someone in the hinterland to step into the world of formal finance, but banks were pushed to meet the ‘Jan Dhan’ targets. Therefore, banks rushed to open these accounts without educating the beneficiaries about the financial literacy and bank’s procedures,”  said a banker.