The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has directed insurance companies to link Aadhaar and Permanent Account Numbers with every individual policy, The Times of India reported.
“Linkage of Aadhaar number to Insurance Policies is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017,” the regulatory body said in a circular issued on Wednesday.
The government – in its gazette notification dated June 1, 2017 – made Aadhaar and PAN mandatory for availing of financial services, including insurance, The Times of India reported.
“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,” ICICI Lombard CEO Bhargav Dasgupta was quoted as saying by NDTV.
The directive has statutory force and insurers have to implement it without waiting for instructions, The Times of India reported. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance CEO Tapan Singhel told the daily that he expected authorities to be reasonable with regard to claims that have to be paid out immediately.
The move comes even as the Supreme Court asked banks to mention the deadline to link Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and mobile numbers in the text messages they send customers in order to not spread panic.
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