Q.1106 NRI bank account linking

to Aadhaar card

Question: Dear Sir/Madam, I am NRI and have Canadian Citizenship. I opened a local bank account in India couple of years ago. This bank account is not an NRI account. I have been informed by relatives in India that I must go to India before Dec 31st, 2017 and apply for the Aadhaar Card. Failure to do so, will result in my bank account being seized and all my funds will become non accessible to me. Could you please confirm whether I am required to apply for Aadhaar card? If Yes, then must I go to India or can I apply online or by going to an Indian bank in Canada such as State Bank of India? Thank you in advance. Answer: I doubt if banks will seize the money of account holders who fail to link their Aadhaar cards by December 31, 2017 deadline. They will however make such accounts inactive and account holders will not be able to conduct any banking services using such accounts; until they provide their banks with the required information, such as Aadhaar and or PAN. While your relatives are advising you to go to India and apply for Aadhaar, they fail to understand that as a Canadian citizen, living in Canada you are not eligible for Aadhaar. You are also not eligible to hold domestic Indian bank account. Some of the options you may have that come to mind: • Notify your bank in India of your non- resident status • Ask your bank to covert your domestic account to NRO account and transfer funds held in domestic account to NRO • Advise your bank that you are a Canadian citizen and not a resident of India. You are therefore not eligible for Aadhaar and hence unable to provide one. [The government has exempted those who are not eligible for Aadhaar from mandatory linking requirement] Whether you can accomplish all this from Canada via Internet or whether you should go to India is a decision you need to make for yourself. For additional information: See question number 1079 titled ‘Penalty for holding domestic bank account after becoming NRI’