Linking Aadhaar and bank account Not Mandatory: RBI in RTI response
The Reserve Bank of India has clarified that it has not issued any order making it mandatory to link Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts. This was in response to a Right to Information (RTI) Act application filed by Yogesh Sapkale. In its response to RTI query, the RBI said, “The Government has issued a Gazette Notification GSR 538(E) dated 1 June 2017 regarding Prevention of Money laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017, inter-alia, making furnishing of Aadhaar (for those individuals who are eligible to be enrolled for Aadhaar) and permanent number (PAN) mandatory for opening a bank account. It may be noted that Reserve Bank has not yet issued instruction in this regard.” On the specific question of mandatory linking of Aadhaar number with bank accounts, the RBI said it “has not issued any instruction so far regarding mandatory liking of Aadhaar number with bank accounts”. The central bank has clearly denied filing any petition with the Supreme Court on seeking explicit permission of linking the two. “RBI has not filed any petition with the Supreme Court,” the RBI said. The reply highlights that the decision of linking bank accounts with Aadhaar is of the Narendra Modi government and not of the RBI. However, the Supreme Court has restricted usage of Aadhaar to six schemes where the government provides benefits or subsidy to individuals. -PTC News
