How to Link Aadhaar with Bank Account
The Government of India has issued a notification that requires you to link your Aadhaar with bank account before March 31, 2018. Failure to do so will result in your bank account becoming inoperable. While the Supreme Court will begin the final hearing on the petitions challenging Aadhaar from January 18, the Government of India has expressed willingness to link Aadhaar with bank accounts to avail benefits of State-run services.
The Unique Identification Authority of India has also tightened rules to map the Aadhaar number to bank accounts in the wake of data misuse allegations against Bharti Airtel. Now, the bank will need customer’s “explicitly informed consent” to link the bank account with the unique identification number. As per the latest notification, the National Payments Corporation of India will also disable the override feature preventing banks from linking Aadhaar without the consent of users.
While it may not be mandatory to link Aadhaar Card with your bank account, for now, it appears that there is no escaping the process. Irrespective of the impending Supreme Court verdict, it is better for the honest taxpayers to link their bank accounts with Aadhaar at the earliest. The process is more or less same for most of the banks. You will have the option to do it either online, offline, or via phone banking.
Online Aadhaar Bank Account Linking
You will have to login into your account using the internet banking username and password
After logging in, click on the link termed as “Update Aadhaar Card details”, or “Link Aadhaar card” or “Aadhaar card Seeding”
Provide the accurate information including your Aadhaar number in the space provided
Verify the entered information and click on the ‘Submit’ button
The next step will be verification and validation by the bank which will be conducted internally. You will receive a confirmation message for the same
If there is an error in the information provided by you, the bank will send a notification to your registered email ID and mobile number
Offline Aadhaar Bank Account Linking
You can get the bank account Aadhaar link form in your bank’s local branch
You will have to fill the information including your bank account number and Aadhaar number
Submit the form at the counter along with a self-attested copy of Aadhaar card. Keep the original Aadhaar card handy, in case it is demanded for verification
The bank will take a few days to link your bank account and Aadhaar number
You will receive a message on your registered mobile on successful linking of the process.
Aadhaar Bank Account Linking via SMS
You will have to send UID (Space) Aadhaar number via SMS from your registered mobile number
Alternately, for some banks, you will have to send the last six digits of your account number followed by the Aadhaar number
In either case, you will receive a confirmation SMS once the linking is successful.
Most banks also provide an option to map your Aadhaar number using the ATM. This can be done using your debit card and PIN. The ATM menu could differ from bank to bank but would not be any different from withdrawing money. The only difference being, you will have to enter your 12 digit Aadhaar number to complete the seeding process. You can also link your bank account with Aadhaar number using the phone banking services provided by your bank.
