Don’t need to declare religion for KYC: Govt

NEW DELHI: The Union finance ministry on Saturday said there is no requirements for Indian citizens to declare their religion for opening bank accounts or for their existing accounts for know your customer (KYC) requirements. “Do not fall for baseless rumours about any such move by banks,” saod finance secretary Rajeev Kumar on microblogging site Twitter.
The finance ministry’s response came after a TOI report said that bank KYC forms may seek details of clients’ religion.The report said the requirement had arisen in the wake of the recent changes made to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) regulations which extend the benefits of opening NRO accounts and holding property to select religious minorities, excluding Muslims.
The report had also said that the rules exclude atheists, Muslim migrants as well as those from other neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Tibet. The RBI had no comments to an emailed questionnaire sent by TOI.