Aadhaar must for all bank accounts

​New Delhi: The government has made it mandatory to give Aadhaar number while opening a new account and also to link the existing accounts with the Aadhaar numbers of their holders. Not disclosing it by December 31 will lead to suspension of the account till it is done.

The government move comes close on the heels of the decision last week that all income tax assessees should link their Aadhaar numbers with Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) when they file their returns, after the Supreme Court upheld the law in this regard.

If a customer, eligible to be enrolled for Aadhaar and obtain the PAN, already has a bank account, he needs to submit the Aadhaar number and PAN by December 31, according to a Revenue Department notification.

In case a customer having account failed to submit his Aadhaar number and PAN by December 31, the said account would cease to be operational till the time the same was submitted, it said.

The measure had been taken for prevention of money laundering, it added. "Provided that if the customer does not submit the Permanent Account Number, he shall submit one certified copy of an ‘officially valid document' containing details of his identity and address, one recent photograph and such other documents, including in respect of the nature of business and financial status of the client as may be required by the reporting entity," it said.