Relax deadline for linking bank accounts with Aadhar: Assocham

New Delhi: Industry body Assocham today urged the government to relax the deadline for linking bank accounts, particularly those in the PSBs to Aadhaar, saying post-PNB scam, the PSU lenders are firefighting to protect their core business and are hard pressed for human and other resources.

It said the economy has just about to come out of the impact of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and is not ready for another challenge by way of any bank account becoming inoperative after March 31. The last date to link bank accounts with Aadhaar is March 31.

“Notwithstanding judicial scrutiny and government’s well-intentioned moves, the banks, particularly those in the PSUs, may find it hard and challenging to complete the task of linking Aadhaar with the accounts of all the customers by March 31, 2018, thus necessitating relaxation of the deadline,” Assocham said in a statement.

Following unearthing of alleged frauds in the Punjab National Bank and a few other banks, the PSU lenders are anyway firefighting to protect their core business and are hard pressed for human and other resources, to take up the job of Aadhaar linkage, it added. The statement noted that even those having submitted Aadhaar details are getting KYC reminders.

“There is a lot of confusion which may lead to further problems as we approach the deadline …It is best advised that the banks be allowed to come out of the crisis-like situation before they are given the additional task of Aadhaar seeding to customer accounts,” it said.