About 20 per cent of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts in the country are inoperative, the government said on Tuesday.

As on December 6, of the total 10.34 crore inoperative PMJDY accounts, 4.93 crore belong to women, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

As per data received from banks, of the approximately 51.11 crore PMJDY accounts, around 20 per cent accounts were inoperative as on December 6, he said.

The percentage of inoperative PMJDY accounts is similar to the percentage of overall inoperative accounts in the banking sector, he said.

The deposited balance in the inoperative PMJDY accounts is around Rs 12,779 crore, which is around 6.12 per cent of the total deposited balance in PMJDY accounts, he said.

This balance continues to earn interest at par with that applicable to operative accounts and can be claimed and withdrawn by depositors at any point of time after the account becomes operative again, he said.

Banks are making concerted efforts to reduce the percentage of inoperative accounts and the progress is being regularly monitored by the government, he said, adding that banks also organise camps at the local level to create awareness about good banking habits, including the benefits of keeping the account active/operative.

As a result of various initiatives, the percentage of inoperative accounts has come down from 40 per cent in March 2017 to 20 per cent in November 2023.

As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, a savings as well as current account should be treated as inoperative/dormant, if there are no customer-induced transactions in the account for over a period of two years.

The reasons for the account turning inoperative can be many and it has no direct co-relation to the account-holder being untraceable.

Customers at any point of time can make a request for activation of inoperative account without being charged. The banks make these accounts operative after completing necessary Know Your Customer (KYC) formalities.

Replying to another question, Karad said the transfer of Rs 820 crore to various account holders under the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) facility took place in UCO Bank.

The Reserve Bank of India has apprised that up to December 7, UCO Bank has recovered Rs 705.31 crore from 28,891 accounts.

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