The government has made it mandatory to link your Aadhaar number with your bank accounts. This comes after a notification dated 1 June 2017, in which the Ministry of Finance made changes to the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005 (read it here).
These rules state that all existing bank account holders have to link their bank accounts, with an exception for small or no-frill accounts that have several restrictions, to their Aadhaar. All regular bank account holders—and in case of businesses, Trusts or joint accounts, those having the power of attorney to transact—have to submit Aadhaar details to their respective banks. Accounts that existed before 1 June have to be linked before 31 December 2017. In case the account holder fails to do so, her access to the account will be blocked and will be granted only after Aadhaar, or proof of enrolment in Aadhaar, has been submitted. An account opened after 1 June would have 6 months to be linked to Aadhaar, failing which, access to the account would be blocked.
More recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) too has clarified that it is mandatory to make this linkage (read it here). While the RBI has stated that the linkage is to be done “in applicable cases,” it has not yet clarified what these cases would be.
How to link
As the government-mandated deadline approaches, you can make the linkage through internet banking, mobile banking, ATM, SMS or even by visiting a bank branch.
If you are using internet banking, you will find the Aadhaar seeding link in the accounts or services section. You have to select the account number to be linked, enter the Aadhaar number, and then confirm the details. While submitting the details, the bank would seek your permission to use the Aadhaar number to fetch KYC information from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Some banks also allow the linking over phone. For this, just give a missed call to a designated number and you will get an IVRS callback, which will guide you through the process. After your details are submitted, the bank will conduct an eKYC authentication.
Confirm the linking
While banks will send an SMS update when the linking is completed, you can also check this status by going to https://resident.uidai.gov.in/bank-mapper directly or by searching for it on the UIDAI website.
To check your status here, you will need your Aadhaar number and the registered mobile phone. After you input your Aadhaar, a one-time password (OTP) is sent to the registered mobile number. Use this OTP to log in. The next screen will show the status of the link.
However, while checking if this facility works, the UIDAI website only shows the status for one account, which was the last to have been linked. When we last checked, the website showed linkage status of only one bank, even though the linking had been completed and confirmed by more than one bank. So, if you have only one bank account, you can quickly check the status using this service.
However, if you have multiple bank accounts, you will need to check through the bank’s internet banking interface under the KYC status.