Aadhaar Card Now Compulsory

for banking – Affect on NRIs

Following the green signal from the Supreme Court, The government of India has now made Aadhaar card number compulsory for bank accounts. Those who have bank accounts in India and have not provided their Aadhaar number to the bank, must do so by December 31, 2017 or will be denied access to their bank account. Those who fail to provide their Aadhaar number by the deadline will not be able to conduct any banking business and their accounts would be frozen until they do provide their Aadhaar card number. The money in their accounts will not be lost! If access to a bank account is denied due to missing Aadhaar card information, then access should be restored once Aadhaar number is provided to the bank. Overview of Aadhaar Card Rules announced by the Government and affect on NRIs  From June 1, 2017, anyone opening a resident bank account in India will be required to provide their Aadhaar card number. In case Aadhaar number is not available, then the person opening the account must provide their Aadhaar number to the bank by December 31, 2017. Failing which they may not be able to access their bank accounts from Jan, 2018.  Those who already have resident bank accounts in India must also provide their Aadhaar numbers to their banks, the deadline to do this is December 31, 2017. Here again if they fail to do so, then access to their bank account will be denied and they will not be able to conduct any banking until they provide their Aadhaar number.  Aadhaar Card Number will now be required for all high value transactions worth Rupees 50,000 or more. Click HERE to view a copy of the new Aadhaar rules announced by Government of India Phone Numbers in India must be linked to Aadhaar The Department of Telecommunications has issued a notice to Telecom operators in India directing them to re-verify all mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar numbers. The last date for this is February 2018, in case a mobile number is not linked to Aadhaar by the deadline, the number may be deactivated. Those who get Sim Cards in India for a short duration may feel the affect of Aadhaar card linking to phone number when they try and buy a new Sim in India after February 2018. To view notice and copy of application form for new mobile connection from Department of Telecommunications Click HERE

Aadhaar Affect on NRIs, OCI & PIO

 NRIs who have NON Resident Bank Accounts such as NRO, NRE in India should not be affected by the new mandatory quoting of Aadhaar Card Number. The Government of India has clarified that mandatory quoting of Aadhaar or Enrollment ID shall apply only to a person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number. Since only resident individuals are entitled to obtain Aadhaar, non-residents are therefore exempt from the mandatory required of quoting Aadhaar numbers. Click HERE for copy of Government of India press release on this topic.

NRIs holding resident bank accounts

 Any NRI who continues to hold a resident bank account will have to provide Aadhaar number. The fact that they are Non-resident and exempt would not apply to them as NRIs are not supposed to have resident bank accounts. NRIs, OCI or PIOs who still continue to hold resident bank accounts in India despite their non-resident status should close resident accounts and convert them to Non-Resident bank accounts by contacting their bank.