The Finance Ministry told the Lok Sabha that 15.09 crore Jan Dhan accounts across the country are currently inactive. This is out of a total of 57.07 crore opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. Accounts are treated as inoperative if no customer-initiated transactions occur for 2 years, as per RBI rules. If balances remain untouched for ten years, banks must transfer the money to the RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness Fund.

The Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, added that the government does not maintain centralised data on the number of inactive Jan Dhan accounts held by women. This includes residents of rural and semi-urban areas. He also clarified that customers can reactivate their inactive accounts at any stage by completing the required KYC. 

Even if the funds have already been transferred to the DEA Fund, banks must refund the amount, with interest, to the customer. They can later claim reimbursement from the Fund.

The government also said it does not track how many PMJDY accounts hold balances below Rs 500.

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