No adverse impact from Supreme Court ruling on Aadhaar-based accounts, says Kotak Mahindra Bank

Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Bank, among the first domestic lenders to start an Aadhaar-based account opening, Wednesday said it does not see any adverse impact of the apex court ruling on the validity of the identity document.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by chief justice Dipak Misra Wednesday held that while Aadhaar would remain mandatory for filing of IT returns and allotment of permanent account numbers (PAN), it would not be mandatory to link Aadhaar to bank accounts and the telecom service providers cannot seek its linking for mobile connections.

The private sector lender has been able to increase its share of savings account deposits courtesy its '811' accounts which can be opened instantly using Aadhaar details.

File image of the Supreme Court of India. AP

"We do not foresee any adverse impact on our savings account opening growth because of the Supreme Court ruling," bank's president for retail liabilities and branch banking Virat Diwanji said in a statement.

He further said Aadhaar continues to be available as a KYC (know-your-customer) document if a customer voluntarily chooses to submit the same.

"Aadhaar continues to be one of the six officially valid documents (OVDs) available to customers for completing KYC requirements," he said.

The city-headquartered bank is targeting to double its number of accounts to 16 million in two years through the 811 zero balance accounts.