The PMJJBY is available to people in the age group of 18 to 50 years having a bank account who give their consent to join / enable auto-debit. Aadhar would be the primary KYC for the bank account. The life cover of Rs. 2 lakhs shall be for the one year period stretching from 1st June to 31st May and will be renewable. Risk coverage under this scheme is for Rs. 2 Lakh in case of death of the insured, due to any reason. The premium is Rs. 436 per annum which is to be auto-debited in one installment f rom the subscriber’s bank account as per the option given by him on or before 31st May of each annual coverage period under the scheme. The scheme is being offered by Life Insurance Corporation and all other life insurers who are willing to offer the product on similar terms with necessary approvals and tie up with banks for this purpose.
As of 31 March 2019, 5.92 crore (59.2 million) people have already enrolled for this scheme. 1,35,212 claims have been disbursed, amounting to a total of ₹2,704.22 crore.As per news reports from 2021, the scheme has failed during the COVID-19 crisis, in which the country suffered an unusually high number of deaths. The article cites some possible reasons for this failure:
There is a very small window of 30 days post-death (with the caveat "preferably") to apply for the claim; therefore, most claims are rejected if received after 30 days.
There is no policy document or any other document given under PMJJBY, which is why families do not even know that there is such a policy under which they can claim insurance, which is one reason why they are deprived of the scheme's benefits. There is absence of a clear "Guidance Manual" on how to apply for claims. Therefore, a large number of nominees of the deceased, who had taken the PMJJBY policy, are not even aware of it, as also whether the premium was paid or not.
It is impractical to arrange for several documents such as death certificate/ death proof, discharge slip from hospital, premium statement from the bank, etc., within 30 days of death.
There are a large number of accounts in which no nominee is linked. In such a situation, the family has to go through a lengthy legal process separately, which takes ages. Therefore, it is necessary to simplify the claim process and increase the claim amount so that the nominee and/ or the family can get some immediate help to come out of the deep financial crisis brought on by COVID.
There is no monitoring system specifically for PMJJBY set up by the Central Govt. No grievance redressal mechanism has been created.
In short, there is low awareness of the scheme, no guidance or policy manual and tight restrictions; hence, the less educated and poor beneficiaries have to run from pillar to post to take advantage of the scheme's benefit.