Q754. Proof of address in India

when living in rented property

Question: Dear Sir, I am an Srilankan by birth ,moved to India in 2001 and did my schooling,obtained OCI in the year 2010 and residing in India till date. kindly guide me to get a permanent proof of address for the purpose of getting PAN card, Driving Liscense and opening a bank account. All these procedures require a permanent address proof which is difficult for an oci holder .i live in a rented house ,but the tenant agreement is not considered a valid address proof. Also Clarify if we can apply for ration card(white card). Answer For those who rent property in India, acceptable proof of addresses can be a problem. The problems faced by those renting homes is something the authorities are taking steps to alleviate to some extent. • The RBI has issued new guidelines to banks easing the requirement of providing proof of residence and in some case banks can also accept a self declaration. To view the RBI circular dated June 9, 2014 click HERE A simple rental agreement is usually not accepted by the authorities these days. To help those who are renting homes and allow rental agreements to be used as proof of address, a circular issued by the Government of India dated 30th July, 2014 clarifies that: • Registered rent agreement duly registered under Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 and executed in favour of the tenant by the landlord for a period of more than one year, will be accepted as a valid proof of address for the purpose of the submission of passport application. To view the government circular use the link: http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProje ct/pdf/Circular_Rent_Agreement.pdf If the ministry of external affairs will accept such a document as address proof, I would assume other departments would also find such a document acceptable. Getting a rental agreement registered is not a big expense but does require the landlord and tenant to visit the registration office to sign in person, in front of the registrar. Most lawyers will do this service for a nominal fee. As for ration cards, rules and procedures vary from state to state. Most states are using Indian citizenship and state residency as a criteria for issuing ration cards