Centre’s Order To Link Aadhaar With Bank Accounts Doesn't Have RBI's Sanction, Says RTI Reply

While the government and banks have been pushing customers to link their accounts to Aadhaar, an RTI reply from the RBI has revealed that the move doesn’t have the sanction of the apex banking regulatory body.

Moneylife reports that an RTI filed by Yogesh Sapkale revealed that the decision to link Aadhaar to bank accounts is the BJP-led NDA government's and that the RBI "has not yet issued instruction in this regard."

While the government and banks have been pushing customers to link their accounts to Aadhaar, an RTI reply from the RBI has revealed that the move doesn’t have the sanction of the apex banking regulatory body.

Moneylife reports that an RTI filed by Yogesh Sapkale revealed that the decision to link Aadhaar to bank accounts is the BJP-led NDA government's and that the RBI "has not yet issued instruction in this regard."

The RBI's response reportedly said that a government gazette notification from June 2017 says that the government had made Aadhaar mandatory for the prevention of money-laundering.

When asked specifically, the RBI reportedly re-iterated that it had not issued any notification in this regard.

The government's plan to link Aadhaar for beneficiary schemes has also caught the Supreme Court's eye, which is deliberating on the issue.

In March, the apex court had said that Aadhaar cards cannot be made mandatory by the government for extending benefits of social welfare schemes.

The apex court, however, had said that the government cannot be barred from seeking these cards, which are issued by UIDAI, for "non-benefit" purposes like filing of IT returns and opening of accounts.

"The answer is this that for giving benefits of welfare schemes, it (Aadhaar) cannot be pressed. They (government and its agencies) cannot be stopped from seeking aadhaar for non-benefit schemes like opening of bank accounts," a bench headed by then Chief Justice J.S. Khehar had said.

In early October, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the mandatory linking of all bank accounts with Aadhar cards has been done by the government to check benami properties, fake accounts and corruption. 

Prasad, the Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice had said Aadhar card is safely encrypted and there is nothing to worry about the safety of personal information as it governed by laws passed by the Parliament and any violator would face strict punishment, ranging up to even seven-year imprisonment.

With Agency Inputs