Aadhaar, Bank A/c can be linked by March 31

NEW DELHI: Bank accounts holders will have three more months to link their account with Aadhaar number, with the government extending the deadline to March 31, 2018. The earlier deadline was December 31.

Those opening a new bank account will have maximum six months to seed their account with the 12-digit unique identification number, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

The accounts will cease to be operational if Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number (PAN) are not submitted by the new timelines given, the ministry said in a statement.


The relaxation comes a day before a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear a plea seeking stay on mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobile phone numbers and various government schemes.

Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India that issues Aadhaar, said the extension has been provided on people’s request.

“People had represented to the government that they need more time for the linking so we want to make sure that there is no inconvenience,” he said. Pandey said the extension is valid not just for bank accounts but for all financial accounts. “This is for everything, be it postal accounts, PPF, insurance, mutual funds, etc.”

However, the February deadline for linking mobile phone number remains since it’s a Supreme Court order. The finance ministry in its statement said, “After considering various representations received and inputs received from banks, it has been decided to notify 31st March, 2018 or six months from the date of commencement of account-based relationship by the client, whichever is later, as the date of submission of the Aadhaar number, and Permanent Account Number or Form 60 by the clients to the reporting entity.”

Earlier in the day, the government amended Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005 to withdraw the December 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts and give itself freedom to notify a new date.

It replaced the rule “submit the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number by 31st December, 2017” in the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 with “submit the Aadhaar number, and Permanent Account Number or Form No. 60, by such date as may be notified by the central government”.

The extension will be available to all type of transactions covered by the PMLA for which Aadhaar had been mandated. The prevention of money-laundering rules mandate banks and FIS to take PAN and Aadhaar for opening a bank account as well as for any financial transaction of Rs 50,000 and above.

People who have moved the SC against Aadhaar say government assurances are not enough and no coercive action should be taken on either linking Aadhaar or insisting on it for availing social security benefits.