INDORE: In a country where 46 accidental deaths occur every hour, not a single claim was settled till December 2014 under RuPay accidental insurance policy of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which came into effect from April 1, 2014.

In reply to an RTI query, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said a total of 34 accidental claims were presented for settlement till December 2014. Out of them 25 claims were under process whereas only six fulfilled the criteria. One was rejected and two claims were under discussion. None of the claims were settled, which entitles beneficiary a compensation of Rs 1 lakh in case of death or permanent disability under PMJDY.

However, procedure for claim states that claims will be settled in 10 working days from the date of receipt of complete document sets and assessment of entitlement by the general insurance company.

All RuPay card holders are eligible for accidental claim policy that will remain effective till March 31, 2015. However, NPCI did not disclose the amount of premium for Rs 1 lakh accidental insurance, stating, “It is not in public interest and commercial interest to disclose the information.”

A major hindrance in claiming procedure is its clause, which makes it compulsory for beneficiaries to perform a minimum of one successful financial or non-financial transaction intra or inter-bank 45 days prior to any accident. “No one knows when an accident is going to take place as more than a thousand people die every day in the country. If the government wants financial inclusion of common Indian then clause of swiping card 45 days prior to the accident incident is futile. The clause is a setback to families of card holders and this may be a possible reason of poor number of claim applications,” said Neemuch-based RTI activist, Chandra Shekhar Gaur.

Currently, more than 11 crore bank accounts have been opened under PMJDY in public, private and regional banks operating in the country and almost all have RuPay debit card making them eligible for accidental insurance policy. The policy also provides life insurance cover worth Rs 30,000 but the Union finance ministry has yet to fix the premium amount.