New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed depositors in a bank deposit insurance event titled “Depositors First: Guaranteed Time-bound Deposit Insurance Payment up to Rs. 5 Lakh” at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital.


“For years, the attitude of slipping the problems under the carpet was prevalent in our country. But today’s New India focuses on resolving the problems, not delaying their resolution”, he said in an apparent dig at the previous UPA government, as quoted by news agency ANI.


He further stated that “when I was CM, I repeatedly requested Centre to increase bank deposit insurance cover to Rs 5 lakhs from Rs 1 lakh but to no avail. So people sent me here to do it”.



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Addressing the gathering, PM Modi said: “Depositors are the spirit behind the guaranteed time-bound deposit insurance payment. Rs 1,300 crore paid to 1 lakh depositors in 1 year”, news agency PTI reported.


“If banks are to be saved, depositors have to be provided security, we have saved banks, provided security to depositors,” he emphasised.


PM Modi recalled that there was a time when “depositors faced hardship to get back their own money from banks under stress, poor, middle-class toiled for years”.


“Government changed law to provide for depositors to get back their money in a time-bound manner in case banks go down under. Government has increased the amount that depositors can get from banks under stress to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh, covering 98 pc a/c holders,” he mentioned.


He also stated that guaranteed time-bound deposit insurance payment within 90-days covers Rs 76 lakh crore of deposit in banks.


At the event, PM Narendra Modi handed over symbolic cheques to the depositors of the banks that failed to return their money.



Deposit insurance covers all deposits such as savings, fixed, current, recurring deposits, etc. in all commercial banks, functioning in India. Deposits in State, Central and Primary cooperative banks, functioning in states and union territories are also covered. 


“In a path breaking reform, Bank deposit insurance cover was enhanced from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh. With deposit insurance coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per depositor per bank, the number of fully protected accounts at end of previous financial year constituted 98.1% of the total number of accounts, as against the international benchmark of 80%,” a PMO release stated.


It stated that the first tranche of interim payments has been released by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation recently, against claims received from depositors of 16 Urban Cooperative Banks which are under restrictions by RBI. Payout of over Rs 1300 crore has been made to alternate bank accounts of over 1 lakh depositors against their claims.


Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS Finance, and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das were also present at the event.


(With Inputs From Agencies)