Q.900 No Aadhaar Card - USA

NRI’s pension account blocked by

bank

I am told by the bank that to get my central government pension, I have to have adhaar card. I live in USA. My account is blocked. They do not give me information as to how much is in my account. I have not been to India for the last 4 years as my husband is disabled. So what happens to the retirees settled abroad. Adhaar card is only for those who reside in India.Are they going to make some exceptions to retirees living abroad? Can you give some information to whom I can appeal? Bella Answer: The Central government recently made Aadhaar card mandatory for central government pensioners. Banks across India I hear, are accordingly advising their account holders who receive central government pension, of the new Aadhaar card requirement. The reasoning behind Aadhaar being linked to bank accounts of pensioners is said to be part of an initiative by the government of India to ensure trouble free payment of pension to pensioners. In line with the Jeevan Pramaan [Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners] Aadhaar based biometric verification which would allow pensioners to submit a digital life certificate online from personal computers or by visiting a service center. Once the procedure of linking Aadhaar to a pension account is complete, a pensioner will then be able to submit online a ‘Jeevan Pramaan’ certificate annually to the bank to renew his/her pension, instead of physically making the trip to the bank to prove that he/she is alive.

NRI pensioners who do not have a

Aadhaar Card

In cases such as yours, where a person does not have an Aadhaar Card due to their non-resident status, here is some information that you may find useful. • It is important for NRI pensioners to notify their banks of their non-resident status. There may be some NRIs who continue to receive pension in their resident Indian bank accounts and have not taken steps to notify their banks of their non-resident status. As per rules, it is the pensioners responsibility to notify their bank of their non-resident status and get their pensions deposited in a Non-Resident (NRO) bank account. • Aadhaar card is given only to those people who are permanent residents of India. So if a NRI pensioner is asked to provide their Aadhaar information, they should indicate the reason they do not have Aadhaar is because of their Non-Resident status. o In January 2016, India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had indicated that the government of India was considering giving Aadhaar cards to NRIs and a decision to this effect would be announced in the near future. In fact there have been news reports that even OCI holders and Persons of Indian origin may be allowed Aadhaar cards. However until a final decision is made in this regard, only those residing in India can get Aadhaar card. • The Supreme Court of India last year has ruled that "No person should be denied any benefits or "suffer" for not having the Aadhaar cards issued by Unique Identification Authority of India." I assume that your pension was being deposited in an NRO account, if this is not the case then take steps to correct this by advising the bank. Perhaps you should contact the bank manager and clarify that you do not have Aadhaar due to your NRI status. You have not mentioned the name of the bank you are dealing with, on their website you should find the appropriate link to register a complaint. If you are unable to resolve your complaint in 30 days, a complaint may be submitted under the banking ombudsman scheme. The procedure for this is: • First file a written complaint with your bank. [keep copies of all documents] • In case you do not receive a response within 30 days from the date receipt of your complaint by the bank or if the bank rejects your complaint, or if you are not satisfied with the banks response, you can file a complaint against the bank. Here is the link: o https://secweb.rbi.org.in/BO/complti ndex.htm o https://secweb.rbi.org.in/BO/Complai ntCheck.html In case of any difficulty in lodging online complaint, you can also lodge the complaint by Email/Fax/Post. Contact details of all the Banking Ombudsman that would apply as per location are available at the link provided: http://rbi.org.in/commonman/English/Scripts/Aga instBankABO.aspx