What is PMSBY?

PMSBY is the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. It is a one-year accident cover, renewed every year, offered through general insurers and a bank or a post office. The rules from 1 June 2022 set the premium at ₹20 a year. PIB repeated that premium, and the two benefit lines, on 18 August 2025.

The larger line is ₹2,00,000. It is paid on accidental death. It is also paid for total and irrecoverable loss of both eyes, or of the use of both hands or both feet, or of the sight of one eye together with the use of a hand or a foot. The smaller line is ₹1,00,000, for total and irrecoverable loss of the sight of one eye, or of the use of one hand or one foot. The rules do not print a third amount for a smaller injury.

You can join from 18 years completed to 70, age nearer the birthday. Cover stops at 70. The account has to be a savings account at a participating bank or post office, and you join through one account only. A duplicate premium can be forfeited. The cover year is 1 June to 31 May, the same window as PMJJBY.

There is no step-down premium. Joining later in the year still costs ₹20. If the auto-debit is after 1 June, cover starts on that debit date. The rules set aside ₹1 as commission on a new enrolment and ₹1 as the bank’s admin expense, and they pass a saved commission back to a person who enrols electronically. The published premium stays ₹20.

The rules checked on the Jan Suraksha portal do not add PMJJBY’s 30-day lien. They do say cover stops if the account is closed or the balance cannot pay the premium. A reinstatement needs the full premium, and the insurer decides whether to put the cover back. During the gap, cover is suspended.

The claim form asks for papers preferably within 30 days of the accident. A disability claim is filled by the member. A death claim is filled by the nominee. Disability papers are an FIR or panchnama, a civil surgeon’s disability certificate, and a hospital record. Death papers are proof of death, an FIR or panchnama, and a post-mortem report, with the alternatives the form itself lists. The scheme guide sets this next to PMJJBY.

₹20 is not treated on this site as a life-insurance premium under Section 123. Accident cover is a different product. It is also not a full personal-accident policy. The FIRE calculator is where a household measures the larger gap.