RBI/2018-19/190
DBR.AML.BC.No.39/14.01.001/2018-19

May 29, 2019

The Chairpersons/ CEOs of all the Regulated Entities

Dear Sir/Madam,

Amendment to Master Direction (MD) on KYC

Government of India, vide Gazette Notification G.S.R. 108(E) dated February 13, 2019, has notified amendments to the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005. Further, an Ordinance, “Aadhaar and other Laws (amendment) Ordinance, 2019”, has been notified by the Government amending, inter alia, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

2. Important changes carried out in the Master Direction in accordance with the aforementioned amendments are listed hereunder:

a) Banks have been allowed to carry out Aadhaar authentication/ offline-verification of an individual who voluntarily uses his Aadhaar number for identification purpose. (Section 16 of the amended MD on KYC)

b) ‘Proof of possession of Aadhaar number’ has been added to the list of Officially Valid Documents (OVD) with a proviso that where the customer submits ‘Proof of possession of Aadhaar number’ as OVD, he may submit it in such form as are issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). (Section 3 of the amended MD)

c) For customer identification of “individuals”:

1. For individual desirous of receiving any benefit or subsidy under any scheme notified under section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, the bank shall obtain the customers Aadhaar and may carry out its e-KYC authentication based on his declaration that he is desirous of receiving benefit/subsidy under the Aadhaar Act, 2016. (Section 16 of the amended MD)

2. For non-DBT beneficiary customers, the Regulated Entities (REs) shall obtain a certified copy of any OVD containing details of his identity and address along with one recent photograph. (Section 16 of the amended MD)

d) REs shall ensure that the customers (non-DBT beneficiaries) while submitting Aadhaar for Customer Due Diligence, redact or blackout their Aadhaar number in terms of sub-rule 16 of Rule 9 of the amended PML Rules.(Section 16 of the amended MD)

e) REs other than banks may identify a customer through offline verification under the Aadhaar Act with his/her consent. (Section 16 of the amended MD)

f) In case OVD furnished by the client does not contain updated address, certain deemed OVDs for the limited purpose of proof of address can be submitted provided that the OVD updated with current address is submitted within 3 months. (Section 3(a) ix of the amended MD)

g) For non-individual customers, PAN/Form No. 60 of the entity (for companies and Partnership firms – only PAN) shall be obtained apart from other entity related documents. The PAN/Form No. 60 of the authorised signatories shall also be obtained.(Section 30-33)

h) For existing bank account holders, PAN or Form No. 60 is to be submitted within such timelines as may be notified by the Government, failing which account shall be subject to temporary ceasing till PAN or Form No. 60 is submitted. However, before temporarily ceasing operations for an account RE shall give the customer an accessible notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard.(Section 39 of the amended MD)

4. Further, additional certifying authorities for certifying the OVDs of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) customers have been specified in section 3(a)(v) of the Master Direction.

5. The Master Direction on KYC dated February 25, 2016, is hereby updated to reflect the changes effected by the above amendments and shall come into force with immediate effect.

Yours faithfully,

(Dr. S. K. Kar)
Chief General Manager