RBI Clarifies It Is Mandatory For Bank Accounts To Be Linked With Aadhaar Under Money Laundering Act

In a press release issued by the Reserve Bank of India on Saturday, it clarified that linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar is mandatory. This comes in the light of dismissing the earlier media reports, which The Logical Indian also covered, stating that the RBI never asked Aadhaar card to be linked with Bank accounts. RBI says that this is compulsory under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The central bank said, “The Reserve Bank clarifies that, in applicable cases, linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 published in the Official Gazette on June 1, 2017.” The RBI further states that the anti-money laundering rules which were revised in June 2017 comes with statutory forces and all the banks must implement them with immediate effect without waiting for further instructions.

Under the Act, it is mandatory for all the current bank accounts to be linked with their Aadhaar numbers within December 31. Failing to do so will render all the existing bank accounts inoperative.

The earlier reports were based on a reply to RTI by RBI which said they have never issued any directives on linking of Aadhaar card to Banks.

Presently, there is a writ petition in the Supreme Court which is questioning the constitutional validity of the RBI’s decision, adding strength to pending pleas challenging the unique identification on the grounds of violation of privacy.

Read the earlier report here: Never Passed Order To Link Bank Accounts With Aadhaar: RBI In RTI Reply