Is it mandatory to provide Aadhaar to invest in small savings schemes such as the Public Provident Fund (PPF), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), etc.? The answer is yes. While opening a fresh account in any of the small savings schemes, the investors must submit their Aadhaar card details.
In a notification dated April 3, 2023, the Ministry of Finance said: As per the Government Savings Promotion General (Amendment) Rules, 2023, an individual shall also submit to the Accounts Office, the following identity documents containing proof of identity and address for the purpose of opening an account, namely (a) the Aadhaar Number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India.
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What if you don’t have an Aadhaar number?
According to the same notification, in cases where an individual does not have an Aadhaar number, should enrol in the Aadhaar scheme and then use the proof of enrolment to open a small savings scheme.
“Where the Aadhaar Number has not been assigned to an individual. he shall furnish proof of application of enrollment for an Aadhaar at the time of opening an account and the account holder shall furnish the Aadhaar number to the Account Office within a period of six months from the date of opening of account for linking the account with Aadhaar Number,” said the Ministry of Finance in the notification.
“And in the event of failure of the depositor to submit the Aadhaar number within the specified period of six months, his account shall cease to be operational till the time he submits the Aadhaar Number to the Accounts Office,” the notification added.
Do investors need PAN to invest in the small savings scheme?
As per the notification, if an individual has not submitted the PAN at the time of opening the small savings scheme account then he/she shall submit it to the Accounts office of the respective financial institution within a period of two months from the date of happening of the following events; whichever is earlier: (i) the balance at any point of time in the account exceeds fifty thousand rupees or
(ii) the aggregate of all credits in the account in any financial year exceeds one lakh rupees; or
(iii) the aggregate of all withdrawals and transfers in a month from the account exceeds ten thousand rupees,
“In the event of the failure of the depositor to submit the Permanent Account Number within the specified period of two months, his account shall cease to be operational till the time he submits the Permanent Account Number to the Account Office,” said the Ministry of Finance in the notification.
