Giving a big boost to Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the Reserve Bank of India, on Wednesday, said bank overdrafts of up to Rs.5,000 in accounts opened under this financial inclusion mission would be treated as priority sector lending.
“...overdrafts extended by banks up to Rs.5,000 in PMJDY accounts will be eligible for classification under priority sector advances (‘others’ category) as also weaker sections, provided the borrower’s household annual income does not exceed Rs.60,000 for rural areas and Rs.1.20 lakh for non-rural areas,” the RBI said in a notification. Under the PMJDY, the overdraft facility is permitted to Aadhaar-enabled accounts after ‘satisfactory operation’ of accounts for six
months. Last August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the scheme to provide all households across the country access to banking facilities.