Q.1061 NRIs cannot be expected

to provide their Aadhaar

number if they don’t have

Aadhaar & cannot legally get it

Question: Dear Sir/Ma'am, God bless! All banks in India now require the Accounts to be linked with Aadhar Cards. How would OCIs with a foreign address be able to meet this requirements if there is no provision in the current law for them to receive an Aadhar Card in a legitimate way (without hiding their foreign address on the Aadhar Application form). Thanks for your response. Respectfully, Colonel Kotu Phull Answer: Banks in India require accounts to be linked to Aadhaar numbers for resident bank accounts. The government has already clarified that as only a resident individual is entitled to obtain Aadhaar, the mandatory requirement to provide Aadhaar to file tax in India does not apply to an individual who is not a resident of India as per Aadhaar Act, 2016. If a person is not eligible for Aadhaar is exempt from the requirement to quote Aadhaar for filling tax in India, then common sense would indicate that the same logic would apply to other services that require Aadhaar. Non-residents such as OCI, PIO cannot be expected to provide Aadhaar numbers if they don’t have an Aadhaar card and cannot legally it. Having a bank account in India does not make a nonresident eligible for Aadhaar. Banks would be well aware of this. They will want Aadhaar numbers from those who hold resident bank accounts in India, for those who operate non-resident accounts such as NRO & NRE accounts, banks would know they are not resident in India and hence not eligible for Aadhaar. Some OCI holders or PIOs may have obtained Aadhaar cards during their visits on the basis of providing acceptable proof of their residence in India. Earlier the Aadhaar enrollment forms did not query residency status. Only proof of valid address in India was required on the enrollment form. This has now changed. The new Aadhaar enrollment forms require that the applicant sign a disclosure confirming they have been residing in India for at least 182 days in the preceding 12 months . . . See sample below: A sample of both the previous and new Aadhaar enrollment form is provide on the next page. Click HERE to view.

Aadhaar Compulsory to operate Indian

Bank Accounts.

Banks now require Aadhaar numbers from their account holders, the current deadline for providing this is December 31, 2017 failing which account holders may not be able to operate their bank accounts until they provide their Aadhaar numbers. I doubt if this will affect non-resident OCIs and PIOs with non- resident bank accounts in India.

OCI holders & PIOs who may face

problems for not providing Aadhaar

Banks are aware that holders of non-resident accounts such as NRO, NRE are non-resident individuals and hence not eligible for Aadhaar. Problems will arise for OCIs and PIOs who despite living abroad have continued to operate resident bank accounts for various reasons, for instance to continue getting a pension deposit in an old account or various other reasons. Holding resident bank accounts in India by Non-residents is a contravention of the law. Failure to provide Aadhaar number by a person operating a resident bank account will lead to problems for the account holder. Non-residents with resident bank accounts should notify their banks of their non-resident status to avoid future problems and stay in compliance of Indian rules and regulations.