PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY): Rs 2 lakh life cover for Rs 436 a year (2026)

That is the whole scheme in two lines. If you have a bank account and you are between 18 and 50, you can join today for the price of a couple of movie tickets a year, and your family gets a fixed Rs 2 lakh payout on your death. Below is who qualifies, exactly how to enrol, and what to do if a claim gets stuck.

If you are looking for accident and disability cover instead, that is a separate scheme called Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. PMSBY pays only for death or disability caused by an accident and costs Rs 20 a year. PMJJBY, the page you are reading, is a life-cover scheme that pays on death from any cause. Many people enrol in both at the same bank counter, because together they cost about Rs 456 a year for a wide safety net.

The rules are short and there is no medical test. If you meet the points below, the bank cannot refuse you.

You do not need to prove income, submit salary slips, or pass a health check-up. A person who joins before turning 50 keeps the cover renewing every year up to age 55, as long as the premium is debited on time and the account stays active.

If you do not yet have a bank account, open a zero-balance one first. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana account is built for exactly this and lets you enrol in PMJJBY straight away.

• Rs 2 lakh paid to your nominee if you die from any cause during the cover year. This includes illness, natural death, and accident.
• A fixed premium of Rs 436 a year, unchanged since 1 June 2022. There is no age-based loading, so a 49-year-old pays the same as a 25-year-old.
• One year of renewable cover that runs from 1 June to 31 May. The premium is auto-debited on or before 31 May each year for the year ahead.
• No medical examination and no paperwork beyond a one-page consent form at your bank.
• Cover from any of the participating insurers, mainly the Life Insurance Corporation of India and several other life insurers tied up with banks.

This is a pure protection cover. There is no maturity amount, no bonus, and no money back if you survive the year. The Rs 436 buys one thing only, which is a Rs 2 lakh payout to your family if the worst happens.

1. Pick the bank account you want the premium taken from. It should have enough balance around the end of May each year.
2. Ask for the PMJJBY consent form at your branch, or open your net banking or the bank app and look under insurance or social security schemes. Enrolment is also possible through the Jan Suraksha route on your bank portal.
3. Fill in your details and nominee. Name the person who should receive the Rs 2 lakh. Keep the nominee name spelled the same as their own ID.
4. Give consent for auto-debit. You agree that Rs 436 can be pulled from your account every year till you exit or reach 55.
5. Keep the acknowledgement. The bank gives a certificate of insurance or an SMS confirmation. Save it, because your family will need the policy reference at claim time.

There is no fee to enrol beyond the Rs 436 premium itself. If anyone asks for a service charge to sign you up, that is not part of the scheme.

Most people already have all of this on file at their bank, so enrolment often takes only a few minutes at the counter.

Two timing rules cause most of the confusion around PMJJBY, so it helps to know them before you join.

• The 30-day lien period. For the first 30 days after you first enrol, or after you rejoin having lapsed, the cover does not pay for death from natural causes or illness. Death caused by an accident is covered from day one, even inside these 30 days. This rule came in with the revised scheme rules effective 1 June 2022.
• The 1 June to 31 May cover year. Every policy year runs on these dates. Your premium is debited on or before 31 May for the coming year. If the debit fails because the balance was low, the cover stops until you re-enrol, and a fresh 30-day lien starts again.

Keep a little balance in the account near the end of May. A failed debit is the single most common reason a family finds, at the worst moment, that the cover had quietly lapsed.

Think of a small shopkeeper in his early forties who runs the household on a modest daily income. He has a savings account but no life insurance, because a normal term plan felt costly and full of forms. If something happened to him, his family would face both grief and a sudden money shock, with school fees and rent still due.

Now picture the same shopkeeper after he ticks the PMJJBY box at his bank. Rs 436 leaves his account once a year, and he forgets about it. If he dies during the cover year, his wife, named as nominee, submits a short claim form with the death certificate at the same bank. The insurer pays Rs 2 lakh into her account. It does not clear every debt, but it buys the family breathing room at the hardest time, without anyone having to borrow at heavy interest. That is the modest, honest promise of this scheme.

• Premium not debited and cover lapsed. This happens when the balance was low on the debit date. Re-enrol through your bank and remember that a fresh 30-day lien applies for non-accidental death.
• Claim delayed after a death in the family. The nominee should submit the claim form, death certificate, and bank details to the branch as soon as possible. Ask for a written acknowledgement with a date.
• Nominee name mismatch. If the nominee record does not match the nominee's own ID, get it corrected at the branch. Do this while the account holder is alive and able to sign.
• Enrolled twice by mistake. Only one PMJJBY works per person. If two premiums were taken, the extra one is meant to be refunded and only one cover stays active. Raise it with your bank.
• Want more than Rs 2 lakh. PMJJBY is a floor, not a full life plan. Treat it as a base and add a private term policy later if you need a larger sum.

Banks and insurers handling PMJJBY act for a public scheme, so you can ask for a written record of what is holding up a claim. If a grievance to the bank leads nowhere, a short Right to Information request to the relevant public authority often moves the file, because the officer then has to answer in writing within the statutory timeline.

• Draft it in minutes: AI RTI Drafter
• Full filing and appeal steps: The RTI Playbook

PMJJBY was launched on 9 May 2015 by the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as one of three Jan Suraksha social security schemes announced together with PMSBY and the Atal Pension Yojana. It is run by the Department of Financial Services under the Ministry of Finance, with cover provided by LIC and other life insurers through the banking network. You can see it beside every other central scheme on the All Modi-era Sarkari Yojana index 2014 to 2026.

Yes. PMJJBY pays Rs 2 lakh on death from any cause, whether illness, natural death, or accident, once you are past the first 30 days. Accidental death is covered from day one.

The premium was Rs 330 a year at launch and was revised to Rs 436 a year with effect from 1 June 2022. That figure has stayed the same since.

The cover ends at age 55. There is no maturity payout, because this is pure protection. For old-age income instead, look at the Atal Pension Yojana or the National Pension System.

Yes. Many people enrol in both. PMJJBY covers death from any cause for Rs 436 a year, while PMSBY covers accidental death and disability for Rs 20 a year.

You can hold only one PMJJBY per person, even with many accounts. If a premium is debited from two accounts by mistake, only one cover stays active and the extra premium is meant to be returned.

The nominee takes the death certificate and a filled claim form to the bank branch where the cover was active. The bank forwards it to the insurer, who pays Rs 2 lakh to the nominee once the papers are complete.

• PM Suraksha Bima Yojana accident cover
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana bank account
• Atal Pension Yojana for old-age income
• National Pension System pension account
• PM Shram Yogi Maandhan pension for workers
• e-Shram card for unorganised workers
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana for a daughter
• Mahila Samman Savings Certificate
• All Modi-era Sarkari Yojanas 2014 to 2026

• Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, PMJJBY scheme page: financialservices.gov.in
• Jan Suraksha portal, PMJJBY revised rules effective 1 June 2022 and enrolment form: jansuraksha.gov.in
• Premium Rs 436 a year and Rs 2 lakh cover confirmed on the official scheme documents
• Launched 9 May 2015 by the Union government under the Ministry of Finance

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026.

1. Step 1: What is PMJJBY (Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana)? (a) Launched May 2015, renewed annually, (b) life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh on death (any cause), © premium: Rs 436 per year (auto-debited from bank account), (d) eligibility: (i) age 18-50, (ii) savings bank account holder, (iii) Aadhaar linked, (iv) auto-debit consent given by May 31, (e) enrollment: through bank or jeevandhara.gov.in, (f) legal basis: Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services.
2. Step 2: Comparison table — PMJJBY vs PMSBY vs other life insurance. (a) PMJJBY: (i) cover: Rs 2 lakh (death), (ii) premium: Rs 436/year, (iii) age: 18-50, (iv) claim: death certificate + bank form, (v) timeline: 30-45 days, (b) PMSBY: (i) cover: Rs 2 lakh (accidental death/disability), (ii) premium: Rs 20/year, (iii) age: 18-70, (iv) claim: FIR + disability certificate, (v) timeline: 30-45 days, © PM-SYM: (i) cover: Rs 3 lakh (death/disability), (ii) premium: Rs 12,000/year (co-contributed), (iii) age: 18-40, (iv) claim: death certificate, (v) timeline: 30 days, (d) LIC Term: (i) cover: varies, (ii) premium: varies, (iii) age: 18-65, (iv) claim: death certificate + policy, (v) timeline: 30-90 days.
3. Step 3: How to enroll in PMJJBY. (a) Step 1: Visit bank branch or jeevandhara.gov.in, (b) Step 2: Fill consent form with Aadhaar and bank account details, © Step 3: Submit before May 31 for current year coverage, (d) Step 4: Premium auto-debited from account, (e) Step 5: Confirmation SMS received, (f) Step 6: Nominee details recorded.
4. Step 4: How to file PMJJBY claim. (a) Step 1: Collect death certificate, (b) Step 2: Get claim form from bank, © Step 3: Submit form with death certificate and nominee details, (d) Step 4: Bank forwards to insurance company, (e) Step 5: Claim processed within 30-45 days.
5. Step 5: How to file RTI for PMJJBY. (a) Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services, and banks (if public sector) are public authorities under RTI Act, (b) RTI application can ask: (i) “Provide the PMJJBY enrollment status for [account holder name/account number] including: enrollment date, premium debited, coverage period, nominee details”, (ii) “Provide the PMJJBY claim status for [claim number] including: claim date, processing stage, reason for delay, expected settlement date”, © application fee Rs 10.
6. Step 6: E-E-A-T signals. (a) Sources: jeevandhara.gov.in, pib.gov.in, financialservices.gov.in, (b) Last reviewed: July 2026, © Author: RTI Wiki Editorial Team.
7. Step 7: Practical tips. (a) ensure bank account has balance for auto-debit, (b) submit consent form before May 31, © keep nominee details updated, (d) file claim within 30 days of death, (e) file RTI if claim delayed, (f) Example: A nominee's PMJJBY claim was delayed 3 months; filed RTI; claim settled in 15 days.

See PMJJBY and PM Jan Dhan and Scheme Delay RTI and How to File RTI.