Bank will now ask your religion, know why

The bank 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) form will soon add a religion column, because of changes made in the FEMA Act Rules.

In this, information about the religion of the depositor can be sought after. After the recent FEMA Act Regulations changes, this need has been felt. Changes in the rules have been made to allow some selected religious minorities, except Muslims, to open NRO accounts and purchase the property.

FEMA or The Foreign Exchange Management Act is a 1999 act to "to consolidate and amend the law relating to foreign exchange to facilitate external trade and payments and for promoting the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India".

According to the Times of India report, the Reserve Bank made this amendment to the religious bias when most of the attention was on the financial crisis.

In 2018, the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act was amended. According to the new rule, it was restricted to minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who hold long term visas. These people can buy residential property in India and can also open bank accounts. After amending the rule, Muslim immigrants, migrants from Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Tibet were excluded.

After the amendments in FEMA rules, there was a necessity to know the depositors' religion so that selected religious minorities can be given the facility to open NRO accounts and buy the property.

Henceforth banks can now ask details about religion in their KYC form. As per reports, this change was made in 2018 when most of the attention was towards the financial crisis.