PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: Benefits, eligibility, Sum Assured, Premium
PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana offers ₹2 lakh life cover to bank account holders aged 18-50 for just ₹436 a year, renewable annually.
PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana offers affordable life insurance coverage to eligible bank account holders across India.
New Delhi: PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) remains one of the largest life insurance schemes in the country by enrolment, offering a straightforward life cover to bank account holders at a fixed annual premium. Launched by the Government of India in 2015 under the broader Jan Suraksha umbrella alongside the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana, the scheme was designed to extend basic life insurance to citizens who had never held a formal policy before.
PMJJBY is a one-year renewable term insurance product. It does not build cash value, does not offer maturity benefits, and carries no investment component — it pays out only if the insured person dies during the policy year, and the cover lapses at the end of that year unless renewed.
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PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: What the scheme covers
Under PMJJBY, a subscriber’s nominee receives a sum assured of ₹2 lakh in the unfortunate event of the insured person’s death due to any cause. The cover applies regardless of the cause of death, subject to a lien period explained below. The scheme is administered through the Life Insurance Corporation of India along with other life insurers willing to participate, subject to necessary approvals and bank tie-ups.
PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: Eligibility criteria
Individuals between the ages of 18 and 50 years who hold a savings bank account are eligible to enrol in PMJJBY through their bank. Once enrolled, the cover continues until the individual reaches 55 years of age, provided the policy is renewed every year.
Non-Resident Indians holding an eligible bank account with a branch located in India are also permitted to purchase PMJJBY cover, subject to the scheme’s terms and conditions, though any claim payout is made only in Indian currency. All bank account holders other than institutional account holders qualify for the scheme.
PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: Premium and payment structure
The current annual premium under PMJJBY is ₹436, auto-debited from the subscriber’s linked savings account. The full year’s premium is payable at the time of renewal, and for first-time subscribers, the risk cover begins from the date the premium is auto-debited.
There is an important condition attached to new enrolments: insurance cover is not available for death from causes other than accident occurring during the first 30 days from the date of enrolment — this is known as the lien period, and no claim is admissible for a non-accidental death within that window. Deaths caused by accident are not subject to this lien period restriction.
PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: Key features at a glance
Sum assured: ₹2 lakh, payable to the nominee on the policyholder’s death due to any cause
Policy term: One year, running on the scheme’s annual cycle, and renewable each year
Enrolment mode: Through participating banks, post offices and digital banking platforms via consent-based auto-debit
Tax treatment: The premium paid is eligible for benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act
Portability: Subscribers can carry forward their enrolment if they move their banking relationship, subject to the scheme’s continuity rules
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PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: Why the scheme matters
PMJJBY was built to bring low-cost life cover to segments of the population that had largely remained outside the formal insurance net, particularly in rural and semi-urban India. Because the premium is fixed, low, and deducted automatically each year, the scheme has scaled to cover a large base of bank account holders since its 2015 launch. For insurers and banks, it has also served as a distribution channel that familiarised first-time customers with the basic mechanics of life insurance — annual renewal, nominee registration, and claim documentation — as a starting point before they consider larger, more comprehensive term covers.
