Adhaar linking with bank account mandatory or not?
Indian citizens are very confused regarding repeated statements of RBI, Indian Govt. and supreme court’s statement regarding adhaaar linking with account.
Recently RBI has made mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts mandatory under ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’ guidelines. Although, it will be subject to the final decision of the Supreme Court on making of Aadhaar mandatory, RBI circular says.
As you know, there are 6 Officially Valid Document (OVD) as per RBI guidelines. One of which is Aadhaar itself. Apart from that PAN card, Driving license, Manrega card, Voter ID and Passport are OVD for full KYC.
As per RBI circular this will facilitate trusted environment for banking services. The RBI has done away with sections relating to the use of other OVD by banks for address and identity proof.
Can we open bank account without Aadhaar no?
Yes! All banks are following RBI latest circualr for fully functional Saving account that adhaar number is mandatory for E-KYC. But you can open simplified basic saving account with other document like Voter card, Driving licence etc
Although you can open account without Aadhaar also but it will be Limited functional with Cap of Max. account balance up to 50,000.
RBI said Aadhaar number not mandatory for individuals who are not residents ie NRI.
“From an individual who is not eligible to be enrolled for an Aadhaar number, or who is not a resident, the following shall be obtained: PAN or Form No. 60, one recent photograph and a certified copy of an OVD containing details of identity and address.” In case the OVD furnished by the customer does not contain updated address, utility bill of not more than two months old of any service provider (electricity, telephone, post-paid mobile phone, piped gas, water bill), property or municipal tax receipt, pension or family pension payment orders (PPOs) issued to retired employees by Government Departments or Public Sector Undertakings, and letter of allotment of accommodation from employer issued by State Government or Central Government Departments may be considered, RBI said.
RBI also said the KYC norms have been updated following the government’s decision to update the ‘Prevention of Money Laundering’ (PML) rules in June 2017. The government had last month extended the date for submission of Aadhaar details for existing bank account holders indefinitely. A date would be notified after the final judgement in the petition challenging Aadhaar being heard before the Supreme Court, the government had said.
“The revised Master Direction is in accordance with the changes carried out in the PML Rules vide Gazette Notification GSR 538 (E) dated June 1, 2017 and thereafter and is subject to the final judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” RBI said while updating its master direction on know your customer norms. According to the Aadhaar Act, a person who is residing in India for more than 180 days is eligible for applying for an Aadhaar number.
Finally, we conclude that Aadhaar is not compulsary as per Supreme court. But if we link it with our bank account, it will be more good for use latest technologies like DBT, AEPS payment throuhg biometric. So we should add aadhaar with our bank account.
How to link aadhaar with bank account online ?
We can link online through mobile bankig, net banking or direct through bank website. But make sure you have added your mobile no to adhaar to get OTP on your mobile to verify.