Linking Aadhaar with insurance policies mandatory: IRDAI

CHENNAI: If you thought linking your insurance policy with Aadhaar is voluntary, think again. The Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (Irdai), through a communication on Tuesday, clarified that all insurance policies must be linked with Aadhaar. It also advised insurers to comply with the statutory norms.

“The Authority clarifies that, linkage of Aadhaar number to Insurance Policies is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second AmendmentRules, 2017,” Irdai said in a statement.

What this means is that you’ll need to not only link your existing policies with the unique identity number but also quote your Aadhaar in case you’re taking additional policies in future. “These rules have statutory force and, as such, life and general insurers (including standalone health insurers) have to implement them without awaiting further instructions,” the regulator added.

This is in sharp contrast to Irdai’s clarification two months ago when it said such linkage was voluntary. “It is hereby clarified that for accessing the details of the client from UIDAI for identification and authentication shall be with the consent of the client on a voluntary basis,” Irdai had said in its August 31 circular addressed to all life and general insurers.

In June this year, the government had notified the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 making Aadhaar and PAN/Form 60 mandatory for availing financial services, including insurance, and also for linking the existing policies with the same.