How to delink Aadhaar from a bank account? Here’s all you need to know

Banks and financial institutes are already using alternatives to Aadhaar; if you want you can now easily unlink your Aadhaar from your account  

Earlier this year in July 2018, the National Payments Corp of India (NPCI), that develops and promotes UPI and BHIM, had asked banks to discontinue Aadhaar-based payments through the UPI and Immediate Payment System (IMPS) channels. ‘Pay to Aadhaar’ was introduced as additional functionality in UPI and IMPS, through which you can transfer funds to a beneficiary using their Aadhaar number.

NPCI had said in a circular issued on 17 July 2018: “Aadhaar number is sensitive information and the revised framework about its usage in the payment landscape is still evolving. With this background, we proposed the removal of ‘Pay to Aadhaar’ functionality in both UPI and IMPS before the steering committee (meeting held on 5 July 2018). The proposal of removing the Aadhaar number functionality was approved by the steering committee.”

Later in September 2018, the Supreme Court declared Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act as unconstitutional. Which meant, linking Aadhaar number will no longer be required for bank account-holders, mobile wallet users and mobile subscribers. However, even after that Aadhaar-related frauds and scams are on the rise.

Banks and financial institutes are already using alternatives to Aadhaar. There are alternative methods of KYC which some of the banks have already undertaken.

Hence, if you want to delink your Aadhaar number from your bank account, follow the steps below:

# You need to visit your bank branch where you have the account and get in touch with the customer care representative.

# You will be asked to submit a formal request to unlink your Aadhaar number with the bank in an application to the bank.

# To facilitate a hassle-free delinking process, carry other KYC documents like PAN card and passbook along with you.

# Submit the application to the bank.

# Generally, it takes around 48 hours to delink your Aadhaar from your bank account, after your application has been processed.

# After the bank delinks your Aadhaar number from your bank account, you will be informed with a confirmation mail or message.

Source: financialexpress.com