New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) India has achieved near-universal banking coverage, with 99.92 per cent of inhabited villages (6,00,868 out of 6,01,328) now served by a banking outlet, which includes a bank branch, business correspondent or India Post payments bank, within a radius of 5 km, as per the data uploaded by banks on Jan Dhan Darshak (JDD) App, the Parliament was informed on Monday.
This banking expansion is supported by a robust infrastructure of over 1.81 lakh bank branches, 17.36 lakh Business Correspondents (BCs), and 1.65 lakh IPPB centres, as on July 17, 2026. There are a total of 58.77 crore Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY ) accounts in the country, having a balance of Rs 3,12,414 crore, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
To ensure accessibility of banking services in rural and remote areas, the endeavour of the government is to provide a banking outlet within a 5-kilometre radius of all inhabited villages in the country, he said.
Further, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted commercial banks, small finance banks, payments banks, local area banks, and regional rural banks to open bank branches anywhere in India without prior approval, provided 25 per cent are in unbanked rural areas, the minister said.
Various steps have also been taken by the government to ensure transparency and timely disbursement of agriculture credit. These include the starting of the Jan Samarth Portal as a one-stop digital platform for linking government-sponsored loan and subsidy schemes. It provides a quick and efficient way to apply for loans and their timely sanction based on a digital evaluation of the applicant’s data.
To streamline the agricultural credit delivery process, various digital initiatives have been introduced. These include the e-KYC application developed by NABARD, KRISHIKA by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and similar digital application development by banks to support beneficiary identification, outreach, loan application processing and monitoring.
Kisan Rin Portal (KRP) has been launched by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in September 2023, enabling Aadhaar-based beneficiary verification and faster digital claim settlements under the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) for loans availed through KCC.
The government and the RBI have also been taking up various initiatives from time to time to strengthen cyber security of digital payment transactions and protect citizens from cyber financial frauds. These include the setting up of an India Digital Payment Intelligence Corporation (IDPIC), in consultation with the RBI, to share real-time fraud intelligence and alerts to banks and financial institutions by leveraging advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Big Data Analytics.
The RBI has also issued Master Directions on Digital Payment Security Controls in February 2021 to combat web and mobile app threats. These guidelines mandate the banks to implement a common minimum standard of security controls for various payment channels like internet, mobile banking, card payment, etc.
Besides, the RBI has launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based tool ‘MuleHunter’ for identification of money mules and advised the banks and financial institutions for its use.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has also been proactively analysing the digital lending apps. In order to facilitate citizens to report cyber incidents, including fake and illegal loan apps, MHA has launched a National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) as well as a National Cybercrime Helpline number ‘1930’.
–IANS
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