Centre issues notification for extending the deadline of Aadhaar linking to bank accounts till March 31

The Centre on Wednesday issued a notification extending the deadline for linking Aadhar and PAN to bank accounts to March 31, 2018, or 6 months from the date of the commencement of new account whichever is later. Earlier the deadline for linking Aadhaar to bank accounts, mutual fund folios and insurance policies was till December 31, 2017. The Centre has further amended the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005 to replace the words “ submit the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number by December 31, 2017” by “ submit the Aadhaar number and PAN or Form no. 60 by such date as may be notified by the Central government” . As the Centre has notified the new date as March 31, hence the deadline has now been extended to March 31, 2018. According to the Prevention of the Money Laundry Act, banks, and other financial institutions are required to obtain Aadhaar, PAN and other official documents from citizens opening a bank account as well as for any financial transaction of Rs 50,000 and above. The Narendra Modi government had in June announced that it is necessary to furnish Aadhaar card for opening new bank accounts and mandatory for the existing bank account holders to link their bank accounts with Aadhaar by December 31, failing which their accounts shall cease to be operational. The present notification of the Finance Ministry's Department of Revenue came after the Centre told the Supreme Court on December 7 that it is willing to extend the deadline of Aadhaar linking from December 31, 2017, to March 31, 2018. However, the deadline for linking Aadhaar with mobile numbers would be till 6 February, 2018. A five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court will be hearing on Thursday a petition challenging the Centre's move over mandatory linking of Aadhaar card to various government schemes. The petition challenges the constitutional validity of Aadhaar card as being violative of the Fundamental Right to privacy.