Link your insurance with Aadhaar, says Irdai; companies term move 'progressive' but see short-term challenges

New Delhi - Regulator Irdai on Wednesday said linkage of the unique identity number Aadhaar with insurance policies is mandatory and asked insurers to comply with the statutory norms. “The Authority clarifies that, linkage of Aadhaar number to Insurance Policies is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017,” the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irdai) said. [caption id=“attachment_4200687” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of Aadhaar registration. Reuters[/caption]The government in June had notified the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 making Aaadhar and PAN/Form 60 mandatory for availing financial services, including insurance and also for linking the existing policies with the same. In a communication to all life and general insurance companies, Irdai said the rules have “statutory force” and as such they have to implement them without awaiting further instructions. Commenting on the communication, MD and CEO of ICICI Lombard Bhargav Dasgupta said it is a progressive and logical step towards creating a unified platform for financial services and at the same time promote the government’s digitisation agenda. “While there may be some short term challenges to overcome, we see significant long term benefits in terms of preventing frauds and streamlining the KYC process,” he said. There are 24 life insurance companies and 33 general insurers (including standalone health insurers) operating in the country.