RBI asks banks to open Aadhaar linked accounts, appoint Complaint Redressal Officer

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised banks to complete account opening process in all the districts which direct benefit trasfer (DBT) and nominate a Complaint Redressal Officer in each district to address depositors grievance.

This comes in the back drop of government looking at the possibility of transferring the subsidies directly to the beneficiaries account to avoid any pilferage.

The RBI has told banks that besides opening accounts they should also be seeding Aadhaar number. RBI said that it recently met with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), finance secretaries of select States, where officials emphasized that banks should proactively take steps to open a large number of bank accounts, seed these accounts with Aadhaar numbers and view it as a sustainable & scaleable business opportunity. During the meeting UIDAI also spoke about utilizing the services of LPG distributors for opening of bank accounts and seeding Aadhaar numbers in bank accounts.

In a letter to banks, RBI said that banks should closely monitor the progress in seeding of Aadhaar number in bank accounts of beneficiaries. They should also put in place a system to provide acknowledgement to the beneficiary of seeding request and also send confirmation of seeding of Aadhaar number.