National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has linked 15 crore bank accounts with their Aadhar numbers under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme, reports PTI. Beneficiaries of government subsidies or direct benefit transfers (DBT) will be brought under the linkage program. By June 30, 2015, 2 crore accounts will be added under the DBT, totalling to 17 crores. DBT-Aadhar linkage for unique identification of beneficiary Late last year, we reported that the Planning Commission had linked 10 crore Aadhar numbers with bank accounts under the Digital India mission. The linking of an Aadhar number with a bank account makes the job of identification easier for the government in order to make welfare payments and subsidies directly into the bank accounts. This Aadhaar-bank account integration is available for over 300 banks across the country. These services are accessible across states even if the bank account holder moves states. PMJDY currently has 12.58 crore bank accounts According to data published by the PMJDY, there were 12.58 crore accounts as of late January 2015 accounting to deposits of $1.7 billion (around Rs 10,590 crores). Earlier this year, the UIDAI issued around 7 crore Aadhar cards in Uttar Pradesh, amounting to 35% of the state’s population, with 2.5 crore cards out of those solely in Bihar. Account holders have the option of opening an account with zero balance. The scheme also allows an overdraft facility of Rs 5000 after 6 months, transfer funds and check balance through a features phone. Account holders will also…
