

Amid the long-standing adverse claims experience of the government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), and to make them economically viable, the premium rates of both - PMJJBY and PMSBY schemes - have been revised from Rs 330 to Rs 436 and Rs 12 to Rs 20 respectively, from June 1, 2022.
As of March 31, 2022, the total active subscribers enrolled under PMJJBY are 6.4 crore and PMSBY are 22 crore, revealed a statement from the Ministry of Finance. It also says that this is the first revision in the premium rates since 2015.
In addition to this, there is also a target to increase the coverage from 6.4 crore to 15 crore under PMJJBY and from 22 crore to 37 crore under PMSBY in the next five years.
Around Rs 1,134 crore has been collected since the launch of the PMSBY scheme by the implementing insurers towards premium, while Rs 2,513 crore have been paid under PMSBY till March 2022. On the other hand, under the PMJJBY scheme, Rs 9,737 crore has been collected by the insurers towards premium and claims of Rs 14,144 crore have been paid.
Claims under both the schemes have been deposited into the bank account of the beneficiaries through the DBT route, stated the Ministry of Finance.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the transfer of benefits through both PMJJBY and PMSBY schemes was closely monitored and several measures were implemented to simplify the procedures and expedite claims. Some of these steps were the government’s outreach programmes and messages from the banks to beneficiaries of the people who died during the pandemic.
Moreover, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI), upon examination of the claims experience of these schemes, informed that while the claims ratio (percentage of the amount of claims paid to the premium earned) of PMJJBY and PMSBY, till March 31, 2022, is 145.24 per cent and 221.61 per cent respectively. The sum of claims ratio and expense ratios (combined ratio) of PMJJBY and PMSBY, till March 31, 2022, is 163.98 per cent and 254.71 per cent respectively.
The government also stated that the revised premium rates of PMJJBY and PMSBY would also encourage other private insurers to come on board for implementing the schemes, further increasing the saturation amongst the eligible target population.