Published in Mint on 19th May 2018.
If you have been reading about the Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar, you might be wondering whether you should have an Aadhaar or not?
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that Aadhaar, the country’s biometric identity system, is constitutional but not mandatory for all services. The court has stated that Aadhaar is mandatory for availing some schemes and but not mandatory for availing others. We tell you where it is mandatory and where it isn’t.
Bank account
After the apex court indefinitely extended the deadline to link Aadhaar, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) amended its know-your-customer (KYC) guidelines to include Aadhaar as an identification document. The directive says if you are eligible for enrolment of Aadhaar, you have to provide the Aadhaar number, Permanent Account Number (PAN) or form No. 60. Proof of application of enrolment for Aadhaar will also be accepted if the enrolment is not older than six months and in case PAN is not submitted. If you are an existing account holder, you don’t need to link to Aadhaar as of now. If you are opening a new account, you will have to submit Aadhaar within six months of opening it. Non-resident Indians don’t need to submit Aadhaar.
Mutual fund
Earlier, Association of Mutual Funds of India (Amfi) asked mutual fund house to insist new investors provide Aadhaar details for investments. However, later the directive was withdrawn. “You don’t need an Aadhaar to invest, reinvest or for the redemption of the mutual fund at the moment at least,” said Srikanth Meenakshi, founder and chief executive officer, FundsIndia.com. You can continue to provide documents such as PAN, voter ID and passport as identity proof.
Insurance
Although the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) says Aadhaar linking is not mandatory, experts say it is being considered compulsory all practical purposes. “For old policies, there is a bit of a reprieve. It is treated as mandatory. For new policies, you need to submit Aadhaar within six months. The process doesn’t go through without Aadhaar. If you threaten the insurer, may be they will agree. But by and large, they don’t go ahead without Aadhaar. In case of claim settlement, it is mandatory,” said Kapil Mehta, said Kapil Mehta, co-founder, SecureNow.in.
Small savings
Currently, providing Aadhaar for small savings schemes such as post office deposit, post office time deposit, national savings certificate and public provident fund is optional. In a notification, the department of economic affairs, ministry of finance, said that it has extended the date to submit Aadhaar until further notice. Earlier, the depositors were required to submit Aadhaar number at the time of opening of account or purchasing certificates. Every depositor who didn’t give the Aadhaar number at the time of application was required to provide it too. But not anymore as of now.
Real estate
If you are going to buy a new house, you don’t need to produce Aadhaar card. Currenly, there is no proposal to provide Aadhaar for any kind of property transactions. Realty developers ask for PAN card and other documents for completing a deal. However, developers say making Aadhaar compulsory in real estate would be useful to collect tax. Amit Ruparel, managing director, Ruparel Realty, said, “Linking Aadhaar with real estate will help government collect more taxes from multiple home-buyers.”
Gold
If you are buying or selling gold, you don’t need to provide your Aadhaar card details. “Aadhaar is mandatory in sectors where there is a government regulator. We need an OTP-based mechanism to sustain Aadhaar-based KYC in gold sector,” said Surendra Mehta, national secretary, India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd. Currently, it is mandatory to provide your PAN card details if you buy gold jewellery worth more than Rs2 lakh.
