About 26% of Jan Dhan accounts are inoperative, RTI figures show
Where it stands
About 26% of Jan Dhan accounts were inoperative on 12 August 2026. PTI reported the figures on 6 September, citing a Department of Financial Services reply under the Right to Information Act. The reply listed 59,03,74,907 accounts. Of these, 15,36,77,009 were inoperative and 5,72,35,490 had no balance. The two categories are not the same. An inoperative account concerns customer activity; a zero-balance account concerns the money currently held. Jan Dhan accounts do not require a minimum balance. The report does not establish why individual accounts became inoperative.
Background
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana brings people without bank accounts into the formal financial system. An eligible person can open a basic savings account at a bank branch or through a Bank Mitra. These accounts can receive government benefit payments. Opening accounts measures access to banking. Regular use measures whether that access is useful in everyday life. A count of accounts is not a count of unique people.
How it developed
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6 September 2026, 11:53 am IST: PTI reportHow it started
RTI reply reports account activity and balances as of 12 August
PTI reported a government RTI reply on 6 September 2026. The reply was dated 1 September and used data from 12 August. It counted 59,03,74,907 Jan Dhan accounts, including 15,36,77,009 inoperative accounts. A separate count put zero-balance accounts at 5,72,35,490. Total deposits were ₹3,15,179.90 crore. The underlying RTI document was not available for this scan; these figures are attributed to PTI's report.
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6 September 2026: explanation of reported dataConsequence
Activity and balance counts answer different questions
Calculated from the reported totals, about 26.0% of accounts were inoperative and about 9.7% had zero balance. These are separate measures, with possible overlap. RBI's rules also require savings interest to continue on inoperative accounts; an inactive label does not erase the balance.
Why it matters for UPSC
For GS3, connect financial inclusion with both access and regular account use. For Prelims, distinguish an inoperative account from a zero-balance account. Do not add the two reported categories: the report does not state how much the categories overlap.
Key terms
Sources (3)
- Department of Financial Services · official · Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana: scheme details7 Sep, 10:06 am
- Reserve Bank of India · official · Inoperative accounts and unclaimed deposits: revised instructions (1 January 2024)7 Sep, 10:06 am
- Press Trust of India / Business Standard · Jan Dhan account activity and balances: DFS RTI reply (6 September 2026)7 Sep, 10:06 am