Deposits in Jan Dhan account have more than doubled to Rs 87,000 crore in 45 days post demonetisation, prompting the tax department to "dissect" information relating to such deposits, a top government official said.
Discussions are on in government about how to make the process simpler for the poor and more cost-effective for telecom operators, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Government's financial inclusion mission is well intentioned, but it may be putting a severe strain on the banking sector.
The government is giving adequate publicity to the benefit to be extended to account holders, sources added.
Lack of awareness about the scheme, especially in villages, has created a situation where expectations are turning into disappointment.
Ministry of Finance, Joint Secretary -- insurance, Anoop Wadhwa, had reviewed the progress of development of micro-insurance products at a meeting in the national Capital on Tuesday.
Private sector banks are way behind their PSU peers when it comes to opening financial inclusion accounts under the Prime Minister's Jan Dhan Yojana
During a video conference with the executive directors of both private and public sector banks, the banks were directed by the government to open at least one account for an adult member of every household.
Taking a dig at the system, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said things have started moving in India under him and the Jan Dhan scheme was being implemented at a rapid pace despite initial reluctance of RBI and bureaucracy.
The department of financial services has decided to give banks commission, to ensure these accounts are kept active.
Third parties can be used to launder the proceeds of fraud schemes by criminals who gain illegal access to deposit accounts by recruiting them as 'money mules'
Bankers have hailed the Prime Minister's call to end "financial untouchability" and opened millions of accounts on the inaugural day itself.
'Unless banks focus on the Rs 10-15 lakh loan segment, growing affordable housing will remain a challenge.'
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme will help eradicate poverty and curb corruption at the grassroot level, industry said.
The problem is set to grow following issuance of 75 million new RuPay cards in the next six months with the launch of the Jan Dhan Yojana.
As many as 24.27 crore accounts have been opened under the scheme and the percentage of zero balance has come down to 24.43 per cent
As the Jan-Dhan scheme completes a month since its official launch, reports coming in from various parts of the country suggest the stated target of 75 million new accounts will be achieved much before January 26 next year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the financial inclusion scheme in his first Independence Day speech last year.
A senior RBI official said the regulator was focusing on performance of banks' statewise and in each district.
Sinha, who is steering Sebi efforts to tackle the ponzi menace, said that in regions like West Bengal and North East -- where penetration of banking services is low -- have seen a larger number of people getting trapped in illegal money pooling schemes that promise high returns.
With rising disposable incomes in cities beyond metros, the penetration of credit cards - and consequently, credit card spending - is growing at a much faster pace than in traditional metro cities, primarily driven by e-commerce spending.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has offered to help in monitoring of the progress made with regard to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the flagship financial inclusion scheme of the government.
The Jan Dhan scheme restricts the scope of life insurance cover to bring down burden on the exchequer.
Based on the credit history banks may later decide to extend the amount.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched his government's mega scheme ' Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana', declaring that it was aimed at eradicating financial untouchability by providing bank accounts to the poor.
The former RBI Governor also emphasised on the need to boost economic productivity and attract investments.
The Finance Minister said government's target was not villages only but cover every household of every village under the PMJDY.
The assessment of PMJDY should be done within the context of the programme.
Replying to a question about women empowerment, Sitharaman insisted that patriarchy is a concept invented by the Left.
In addition to the problem of long queues at automated teller machines, there would be the problem of guiding new cardholders, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, on how to use those cards, some bankers told Business Standard.
The Union Finance Ministry on Tuesday said that aggregate business of public sector banks (PSBs) has shown strong growth of 11 per cent in the first half of the financial year 2024-25 (H1FY25) to touch Rs 236 trillion. The operating and net profit were also robust. At Rs 1.5 trillion, operating profit grew by 14.4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) while the net profit saw an impressive 25.6 per cent jump at Rs 85,520 crore in the first half of FY25.
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
Inaugurating the Grameen Bharat Mahotsav, the Prime Minister exuded confidence that villages will play a key role in pushing forward the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Department of Financial Services is regularly emphasising the early issuance of RuPay Debit Cards, e-KYC based account opening, Aadhaar seeding, financial literacy and the progress in survey made.
More than 50 per cent of SIP accounts come from semi-urban and rural areas.
In an email to bank officers and staff, he hailed their contribution in "successfully" rolling out the scheme but added a word of caution against slackening.
The first stage of the inclusion strategy was focussed on opening bank accounts, logically seen as creating the last-mile channels for financial access.
The data show close to 72.5 million accounts have been opened till November 10 with an average 500,000 opened every day.
Around 10 crore bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme.
As of March 2023, the share of accounts belonging to women stood at 36.4 per cent (917.7 million) of the total 2.52 billion individual accounts.
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