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Problem

One in Four Jan Dhan Accounts Has Gone Unused for Over Two Years

  • National

Bank accounts opened to bring unbanked households into the financial system are, in very large numbers, not being used. The Ministry of Finance told Parliament that as at 12 November 2025, 15.07 crore of 56.98 crore Jan Dhan accounts — about 26 per cent — had seen no customer-initiated transaction for more than two years, and 5.21 crore held no balance at all. A Department of Financial Services reply covering 12 August 2026 shows the same proportion. Average balances are also far lower in the North-Eastern states, at ₹298 against ₹4,808 nationally.

This is the most specific entry on this branch of the catalogue. The evidence behind it is below.

Who is responsible

  • Ministry of Finance — Department of Financial Services · Ministry or DepartmentRuns the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and reports account status to Parliament.
  • Reserve Bank of India · Regulatory bodyDefines when an account becomes inoperative and mandates the annual dormant-account review.

Evidence and sources

  • Ministry of Finance, written reply to Parliament on Jan Dhan account status · Government document · published 12 November 2025The Ministry's written reply to Parliament records that as at 12 November 2025, 15.07 crore of 56.98 crore Jan Dhan accounts — about 26 per cent — had seen no customer-induced transaction for over two years, 5.21 crore held zero balance, and the average deposit was ₹4,808 nationally against ₹298 in the North-Eastern states, where 76.8 lakh of 2.99 crore accounts were inoperative. The figures are quoted from reporting of the reply rather than from the Lok Sabha document itself.
  • Department of Financial Services, RTI response on Jan Dhan account status · RTI reply · published 12 August 2026The Department's reply records the position as at 12 August 2026: 15.37 crore of 59.04 crore Jan Dhan accounts inoperative, about 26 per cent, with 5.72 crore holding zero balance — consistent with the reply to Parliament nine months earlier.
  • Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Finance — Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana completes eleven years · Government documentThe release confirms 56.16 crore Jan Dhan accounts as at 13 August 2025 holding ₹2,67,756 crore, and records that banks are making efforts to reduce inoperative accounts under the scheme — the government's own acknowledgement that dormancy is a live problem. It states no inoperative count of its own.

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