Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) may see an upward revision in their premiums in 2018.
The Government of India's personal accident insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) , has crossed the 130 million mark with 132.57 million enrollments as on January 8, 2018. On the other hand, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) , the term insurance scheme, has covered 52 million lives so far, as per the data from the Department of Financial Services.
In May 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched these schemes under the Jan Suraksha Yojana.
Both these insurance schemes are valid for a period of one year each. These schemes have the auto-renewal facility through deduction of premium from the bank account of the person insured.
For securing yourself under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), a premium of Rs. 12 per annum is charged, whereas, under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Rs. 330 per annum is charged. Both the schemes provide a sum assured of Rs. 2 lakhs. The coverage period is from June 1 the year to May 31 of the subsequent year.
On the other hand, PMJJBY offers a renewable one-year term life cover of Rs 2 lakh to all subscribing bank account holders in the age group of 18 to 50 years, covering death due to any reason including suicide and murder.
Due to low premiums under both these schemes, many fraudulent claims have been reported across the country. Majority of them being attempted accidents and availing policies under names of dead people.
As a major checkpoint against fraudsters, the insurance cover under PMJJBY is available for death (other than due to accident) occurring only after the first 45 days from the date of enrollment into the scheme and in case of death (other than due to accident) during this waiting period, no claim would be admissible.
The premiums for both Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana have remained unchanged since its launch in 2015. But, due to claims and in order to make this business model more sustainable, insurers have demanded a rise in the premiums for 2018. According to sources, the government is likely to comply with the request.
During the initial phase, there was a much faster growth in the number of enrollments under these schemes including Atal Pension Yojana. However, the pace has now come down. According to the Insurers, the primary reason for this is that the participating banks are not actively pushing these products, through which the policies are sold.
