Linking Aadhaar to bank accounts mandatory, reiterates RBI

If have been bugged by a continuous stream of SMSs and emails from your banker asking you to link your bank account with your Aadhaar card, please do so at the earliest.

The Reserve Bank of India has issued a press release clarifying that it is mandatory to link Aadhaar card with bank accounts on Saturday. The statement quotes news items that have appeared in some mainstream media referring to a RTI (Right to Information) reply that Aadhaar linkage is not mandatory.

RBI said that it is mandatory to link Aadhaar number to your bank account under the Prevention of Money-laundering, Second Amendment Rules, 2017, published on June 1 in the Official Gazette. And that these rules have statutory force. Banks have to implement these rules without waiting for instructions.

With this notification, the banks are expected to even more aggressively pursue their customers to link their accounts with Aadhaar card.