Opening a bank account (Jan Dhan / zero-balance account)

Opening a bank account (Jan Dhan / zero-balance account)
You open a basic savings account (BSBD), or a Jan Dhan account, in your name, with no minimum balance.
For whom: Anyone in Telangana without a bank account, parents who want an account for a child, and people who have no identity documents yet.
Published on 30-10-2026. Not every fact has been checked against its official source yet: confirm at the office.

Only if

Whose account is it? Mine (18 or older)
1.
Choose a bank. Every bank must offer the basic savings account (BSBD), with no minimum balance. If you have no other bank account, ask for it as a Jan Dhan (PMJDY) account.
✋ You do this yourself

Only if

Whose account is it? Mine (18 or older) · Do you have Aadhaar, or another official identity document such as a voter ID, passport, driving licence or NREGA job card? Yes · Where will you open it? At a bank branch
2.
Go to the branch and fill in the form for a BSBD / Jan Dhan account. Give your identity document and your PAN or Form 60. Sign the declaration that you have no BSBD account in any other bank.
🏦 The bank branch you chose
📎 Aadhaar, or another officially valid document, PAN card, or Form 60 if you have no PAN, A recent photograph
💰 Fee: Free · No first deposit is needed to open it. The basic services of a BSBD account are free.

Only if

Whose account is it? Mine (18 or older) · Do you have Aadhaar, or another official identity document such as a voter ID, passport, driving licence or NREGA job card? Yes · Where will you open it? With the Bank Mitra (business correspondent) in my village
3.
Go with your Aadhaar to the Bank Mitra in your village (the business correspondent who works for the bank). They check your Aadhaar by fingerprint or face (e-KYC) and open the account.
🏦 Bank Mitra (business correspondent) point
📎 Aadhaar, or another officially valid document, PAN card, or Form 60 if you have no PAN
💰 Fee: Free · No first deposit is needed to open it. The basic services of a BSBD account are free.

Only if

Whose account is it? Mine (18 or older) · Do you have Aadhaar, or another official identity document such as a voter ID, passport, driving licence or NREGA job card? Yes · Where will you open it? On the bank's app or website, with video KYC
4.
Start the account application on the bank's app or website, and finish the video call with a bank official (video KYC, V-CIP). Show your original Aadhaar or identity document and your PAN in the call; you must be in India at the time.
🏦 Your bank's app or website
📎 Aadhaar, or another officially valid document, PAN card, or Form 60 if you have no PAN
Not confirmed: RBI allows banks to use video KYC but does not require it. Ask your bank whether it opens BSBD or Jan Dhan accounts online.
5.
If the bank opened the account with only an Aadhaar OTP and no video call, complete full KYC (video KYC or at the branch) within one year. Until then, the total balance of all your deposit accounts may not go over ₹1 lakh, nor the total paid into them over ₹2 lakh a year. If KYC is not done within the year, the bank closes the account.
🏦 Your bank (a branch, or video KYC)
📎 Aadhaar, or another officially valid document, PAN card, or Form 60 if you have no PAN
⏱️ within 365 days · Within one year of opening the account.

Only if

Whose account is it? Mine (18 or older) · Do you have Aadhaar, or another official identity document such as a voter ID, passport, driving licence or NREGA job card? No, none
6.
Go to a bank branch and ask for a 'small account'. Give a photo you have signed yourself. Sign, or put your thumb impression, in front of the bank officer.
🏦 A bank branch
📎 A recent photograph
7.
Within 12 months of opening the account, apply for Aadhaar or another identity document and show the bank proof that you applied; the account then runs for another 12 months. Until then these limits apply: ₹1 lakh paid in a year, ₹10,000 taken out or transferred in a month, and a balance of ₹50,000 at any time. Government grants and welfare money do not count towards the balance limit.
🏦 The branch where you have the account
⏱️ within 365 days · Within 12 months of opening the account.

Only if

Whose account is it? A child's (under 18)
8.
The mother, father or legal guardian goes to the branch and opens a savings account in the child's name. The mother can open it as guardian too.
🏦 A bank branch
📎 Identity documents of the child and the guardian
9.
If the child is over 10, ask the bank whether the child may run the account alone, within the age, amount and terms the bank sets. A child's account can never be overdrawn.
🏦 A bank branch

Only if

Whose account is it? Mine (18 or older)
10.
Ask the bank for what you need: a passbook, a RuPay / ATM card, a cheque book, internet or mobile banking. In a BSBD account these are free: no yearly fee for the card, at least 25 cheque leaves a year, a passbook or monthly statement, and at least 4 free withdrawals a month (counting ATM withdrawals and transfers). Deposits have no limit. Digital payments such as UPI, NEFT and IMPS are not counted in those 4. The bank must not make you take services you did not ask for.
🏦 Your bank
💰 Fee: Free · These basic services are free in a BSBD account.
11.
If it is a Jan Dhan account, take the RuPay debit card: it comes with accident insurance of ₹2 lakh (₹1 lakh for accounts opened before 28.8.2018). Eligible account holders can also get an overdraft of up to ₹10,000; ask the bank for its conditions.
🏦 Your bank
Not confirmed: By the Government's 2018 decision, the overdraft is for ages 18 to 65, with no conditions up to ₹2,000. The account form on the Jan Dhan website says it comes after 6 months of using the account and to one member of a household; that form still shows the old limit (₹5,000). Ask the bank for the current conditions.

For everyone

12.
For government scheme money (pensions, scholarships and the like) to come into this account, the account holder's Aadhaar must be linked to it for DBT: fill in and hand over the bank's consent form for this.
🏦 The branch where you have the account

Only if

Whose account is it? A child's (under 18)
13.
When the child turns 18, they go to the bank and give a new signature and a new photo, and the KYC documents again if the bank asks.
🏦 The branch where the account is

Documents you need

If you don't have it:
→ New PAN card
Not confirmed: The RBI directions say only that the KYC rules apply to minors' accounts too; they do not list the documents separately. Ask at the branch.

If something goes wrong

If it is rejected
If the bank refuses to open a BSBD / Jan Dhan account, or asks for a minimum balance or a first deposit, first complain to the bank in writing and keep the complaint number. If there is no reply within 30 days, or you are not satisfied with it, complain free of charge to the RBI Ombudsman on cms.rbi.org.in. Do it within 90 days of the end of those 30 days or of the bank's last reply, whichever is later. On 14448 they explain, in Telugu too, how to complain and what the status is; they do not take complaints by phone.
RBI Ombudsman (CMS portal)
cms.rbi.org.in ↗📞 14448
If you are asked for more money
If the bank takes money for a BSBD account's basic services (the card's yearly fee, the passbook, the first 4 withdrawals of the month) or for not keeping a minimum balance, complain to the bank in writing. If it is not settled within 30 days, complain to the RBI Ombudsman.
RBI Ombudsman (CMS portal)
cms.rbi.org.in ↗📞 14448
If it is late
If you ask in writing for your existing savings account to be turned into a BSBD account, the bank must do it within 7 days. If it does not, or your complaint gets no reply within 30 days, complain to the RBI Ombudsman.
RBI Ombudsman (CMS portal)
cms.rbi.org.in ↗📞 14448
Also
A complaint about a Jan Dhan account can also be written in the complaint form on the Jan Dhan website; you can check its status there with the reference number.
Jan Dhan (PMJDY) complaint form
pmjdy.gov.in ↗
→ Linking Aadhaar to your bank account (DBT seeding)→ Getting a new Aadhaar→ Post office savings account, and India Post Payments Bank account→ New PAN card
Updated on 30-10-2026
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