RBI on Saturday issued a clarification, saying linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts was mandatory in cases under the prevention of money-laundering rules. The central bank was responding to news reports that quoted an RTI reply on linking the 12-digit biometric number with accounts by December 31.?
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"Some news items have appeared in a section of the media quoting a reply to a RTI application that Aadhaar number linkage with bank accounts is not mandatory.The Reserve Bank clarifies that, in applicable cases, linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 published in the Official Gazette on June 1, 2017," the central bank said in a tweet.?
These rules have statutory force and, as such, banks have to implement them without awaiting further instructions.?
The government has made it mandatory to link bank accounts with Aadhaar and some banks have been pushing for it. The deadline to do so is December 31.
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The Supreme Court has already established that Aadhaar is not illegal and privacy is not absolute. However, the upcoming decision is yet to clarify if making it mandatory is legal. Hence, if the government has its way, bank accounts not linked to Aadhaar will cease to become operational and consequences could be worse than that of demonetisation.?