As of August 12, 2026, India had 59.04 crore Jan Dhan accounts with a combined balance of ₹3.15 lakh crore, the RTI response showed. Of these, 15.37 crore accounts were inoperative, accounting for about 26% of the total. Another 5.72 crore accounts had no balance.
The figures were disclosed by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, in response to an RTI application filed by activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur.
Women hold more than half of Jan Dhan accounts
Women account holders, including transgender account holders, held 32.89 crore PMJDY accounts, while men held 26.14 crore accounts.
The government, however, said it does not centrally maintain gender-wise data on the balances in these accounts, or on how many accounts are zero-balance or inoperative.
Uttar Pradesh has the most zero-balance, inoperative accounts
Uttar Pradesh had the largest number of zero-balance Jan Dhan accounts at 95.92 lakh, followed by Bihar at 62.35 lakh, West Bengal at 37.20 lakh, Assam at 36.30 lakh and Maharashtra at 36.04 lakh.
The state also recorded the highest number of inoperative accounts at 3.23 crore. Bihar followed with 1.59 crore, Madhya Pradesh with 1.35 crore, West Bengal with 1.02 crore and Maharashtra with 97.94 lakh.
Uttar Pradesh also had the largest overall Jan Dhan account base, with 10.51 crore accounts, followed by Bihar at 7.01 crore, West Bengal at 5.73 crore, Rajasthan at 3.87 crore and Maharashtra at 3.85 crore.
What does an inoperative Jan Dhan account mean?
PMJDY was launched in August 2014 as a national financial inclusion programme. Its objective is to provide households with access to basic banking services, financial literacy and social security schemes.
An account becoming inoperative does not necessarily mean that the money in it has been lost. It generally reflects a lack of qualifying customer-initiated transactions over a specified period. Such accounts can be reactivated by following the bank’s prescribed process.
The distinction between a zero-balance account and an inoperative account is also important. A zero-balance account can still be operational, while an inoperative account refers to its transaction status. Therefore, the two figures should not be added together to estimate the number of inactive or unused accounts.
The latest data highlights the gap between opening a bank account and keeping it actively used. Jan Dhan was designed to bring previously unbanked households into the formal financial system, including by enabling access to direct benefit transfers and other financial services.
The RTI response also said the Centre does not centrally maintain data on accounts with balances below ₹100, accounts closed during the past five years, or accounts blocked or frozen because of suspicious transactions or cyber fraud.
The state-wise data provided in the RTI response covers 36 states and Union territories.
-With PTI inputs
