There has been a significant increase in inactivity of bank accounts linked to Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which remains a matter of concern for the financial inclusion of the country. By the end of September 2025, there were a total of 54.55 crore Jan Dhan accounts, out of which about 26 percent i.e. 14.28 crore accounts have become inactive. This percentage has increased from 21 percent last year, which reflects the challenging situation. The special thing is that the effect of this problem is more visible in big government banks, like in Bank of India, 33 percent, in Union Bank, 32 percent and in State Bank of India, the number of inactive accounts has increased from 19 percent to 25 percent.
Inactive accounts are those in which no transactions have taken place for two years. Under the rules of the Reserve Bank of India, such accounts are declared inactive or dormant. Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, launched in 2014, was aimed at increasing financial inclusion in poor and rural areas, so that every citizen can avail banking services. Under the scheme, many facilities including opening of zero balance account, accident and life insurance, pension schemes are provided.
However, the increasing number of inactive accounts raises questions over the success of the scheme. The main reasons behind this include not updating KYC of account holders, lack of economic activity and lack of financial awareness. To deal with this problem, the government has directed the account holders to complete the Re-KYC process, so that the accounts remain active and can avail the benefits of the government’s welfare schemes.
In this direction, efforts are being made by the Finance Ministry and banks to increase awareness in the secondary sector. It is also important to strengthen financial literacy in rural and backward areas, so that more and more people can join banking and operate their accounts properly. Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana has so far made a major contribution to economic inclusion by connecting crores of people with the formal banking system, but continuous efforts are necessary to reduce inactivity.
Thus, the government and banks have to together find a solution to this problem of inoperative accounts so that the success of Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana can be further scaled up and concrete progress can be made towards financial inclusion.