Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana – All you need to Know

After a lot of speculation and anticipation about the social security schemes that the Modi government was set to announce, the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) has finally been launched. The honourable Prime Minister announced a total of three social security schemes that aim to bring the overall population under the umbrella of insurance. Apart from this accident insurance scheme, the government has also launched schemes for retirement as well as life insurance.

What is Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana?

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana is a government-led accident insurance schemes that aims to provide accident insurance to all Indians in the unfortunate event death or permanent disability on account of an accident. This scheme is applicable for Indians under the organized as well as unorganized sector of labour. The scheme is linked to various public sector banks and units and major private banks also who have agreed to collaborate.

In a country like ours, where insurance percentage is even below the world average of 6.3%, schemes like the PMSBY are a great push towards insuring a huge chunk of population. Some of the main distinguishing features that set it apart from other such government-run insurance schemes are –

• Extremely low premium payment
• Higher coverage of up to Rs.2 Lacs
• First time when social-security schemes have been linked with bank accounts to help unorganized sector be a part of the scheme and to foster deeper penetration across the country
• Higher inclusivity; both unorganized and organized sector people can avail this policy

Salient features of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana

• PMSBY is an accident insurance scheme aimed at providing monetary support to people who lose their lives or are disabled permanently because of accidents
• Accidental insurance scheme which can be renewed annually
• A premium of Rs.12 per annum is to be paid by a policyholder
• Sum assured is Rs.2 lacs in the unfortunate event of death or disability due to accident
• People between the age of 18-70 years can apply for this insurance scheme
• PMSBY specially aims to provide coverage to people from the rural sector and the unorganized sector who have an extremely low percentage of insurance but are the most susceptible to accidents and injury
• Auto-deduction of premium from customer’s bank account; subject to consent of the customer
• Option to renew PMSBY scheme annually or to take it for a long-term period

Eligibility Criteria:

• Age Group – 18-70 years of age
• Any person having a bank account can avail this scheme
• Name of the nominee should be included in the application
• Even if a customers has multiple savings accounts, he/she can joint his scheme through just one of the many accounts

How does PMSBY works?

It is not an easy task to implement an insurance scheme that covers the whole population of the country. Hence, the scheme is being provided through all major banks so that no single entity has to do the colossal amount of work involved. The scheme has certain simple basic steps that will ensure coverage with minimum effort and complexity.

• The premium of Rs.12 per annum will be debited from customer’s savings account
• Customer’s consent is required before banks debit that amount and start this insurance plan on customer’s name
• PMSBY is valid from June 2015 to May 2016 after which the policy needs to be renewed every year
• For this year, 31^st May is the last day to join this policy
• Extension being given for joining this policy is till 31^st August 2015

Benefits of PMSBY

1) On death of policyholder, due to accident an amount of 2 lac rupees will be paid to the nominee

2) In case of total and irrecoverable loss of eyes, hands or legs due to accident, an amount of 2 lac rupees will be paid to the policyholder

3) In case of total and irrecoverable loss of one eye or one hand, a sum of 1 lac rupees will be paid to the policyholder

The cover of the PMSBY insurance scheme ceases in case the policyholder attains the age of 70 or if his/her bank account is closed due to insufficient balance in the account through which policy premium is paid or in case the same policyholder is covered in this scheme through more than one savings account

Which insurance company will offer the PMSBY?

PMSBY will be offered majorly by public sector insurance companies like the New India Assurance and the Life Insurance Corporation of India. However, private general insurance companies can also step forward and collaborate if interested. Private Banks are free to engage any general insurance company for offering the PMSBY scheme to their customers. Examples of companies that will be offering this accident insurance scheme are National Insurance Company Limited, ICICI Lombard, Oriental Insurance Company Limited, etc.

About the Author:

Sanjit Agarwal, a Financial Writer by profession, holds a rich experience of around six years in Personal Finance industry. He loves to write and share reviews, updates, tips, case studies and more on Investments, Money Management, Retirement Planning, Tax, Savings, Insurance and more. Currently, he is giving his services as Financial Writer for health insurance, at BankBazaar.