Now you must link every single insurance policy with Aadhaar and PAN

New Delhi, November 9: Now you must link all of your insurance policies with Aadhaar. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) have made it mandatory for insurance providers to link Aadhaar card with every single individual policy. 

In a circular, sent to all the insurance companies, the IRDAI said that the central government in its gazette notification dated June 1, 2017 made Aadhaar and PAN/Form 60 mandatory to avail services related to finance. “The Authority clarified that, linkage of Aadhaar number to insurance policies is mandatory under the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017,” the IRDA said.

“We have informed the companies that this is the law and they have to abide by it,” IRDAI member Nilesh Sathe said. The circular stated that the directives will be implemented immediately by life and general insurers. The insurers would be able to link the numbers either through text messages or online or by visiting the branch.

“In my view, it is a progressive and logical step towards creating a unified platform for financial services and, at the same time, promoting the government’s digitisation agenda,” said Insurance MD & CEO Bhargav Dasgupta.

All policyholders will have to link their policies and furnish the Aadhaar number. Insurer expects it to help the sector in reducing frauds and quicker claim settlement. Last month, the Reserve Bank of India had clarified that linking Aadhaar Card with bank accounts is mandatory. In June, the government had made Aadhaar mandatory for opening bank accounts. Also, for all financial transactions of Rs. 50,000 and above, RBI had said Aadhaar will be mandatory.