The importance of having an Aadhaar is clearly on the rise. As the story goes, the unique identification number was launched to bring efficiency and transparency to the implementation of public schemes and to provide direct benefit transfers.

The Government opines that linking the Unique Identification Document (UID) to other important documents and services will help root out bogus accounts and curb money laundering. However, the issue of privacy and security of personal data continues to remain a contentious issue.

Currently, submitting your Aadhaar is a must for mobile numbers, tax filings, and bank accounts. Apart from these, you can link your Aadhaar card to other important documents as well.

Listed below are a list of documents and services to link to your 12-digit Aadhaar number.
 

Link Aadhaar with Mobile Number

The Government has made it mandatory to link an Indian citizen's mobile number to their Aadhaar number. The network providers have a year's time to verify their users' old and new phone numbers through Aadhar's eKYC (Know Your Customer) process. Hence, if you have not linked your Aadhaar card to your mobile number yet, mobile service providers will intimate you to do so before February 6, 2018. To comply with the order, mobile service providers will redo the KYC of all existing subscribers through the Aadhaar based eKYC process.

All service providers have rolled out the Aadhaar based e-KYC solution, but the process followed by each service provider on their respective platforms is different. Hence, it would be best to simply visit the nearest store of your service provider to link your mobile number and Aadhaar number. The store executive will then process your request to link them.

Link Aadhaar with Bank Account

Linking of Aadhaar with your bank account is to facilitate receiving direct benefit transfer from the Government. For now, it is not mandatory to link your bank account with Aadhaar, expect if you have opened your account between July 2014 to August 2015 (to comply with FATCA norms of the I-T department). However, by making it compulsory to link your PAN with Aadhaar, the Government could make it mandatory to link your bank account as well, to keep a track of your financial transactions and prevent money laundering.

The Aadhaar card-bank account link can be done through different channels. The three common channels across banks are:

• Bank Branch
• Internet Banking
• Mobile Banking application

Under the last two, the process is relatively simple:

• Login to your online banking account
• Click on ‘Update Aadhaar’ or ‘Aadhaar Card Seeding’
• Provide details as per your Aadhaar card and submit
• A One Time Password (OTP) will be sent to your registered mobile which you will need to use to complete the linkage

Certain banks allow you to update your UID number through phone banking and/or even through SMS.

Link Aadhaar with Mutual Funds

You need to link your Aadhaar with your mutual fund and demat accounts by December 31, 2017. Submit the details before the due date to avoid having your mutual fund folios frozen.

Presently, Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) and Karvy Computershare, which together service 31 fund houses, offer an online facility for investors to link their Aadhaar to mutual fund accounts. Other registrar and transfer agents, such as Franklin Templeton Asset Management (for Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund) and Sundaram BNP Paribas Fund Services (for BNP Paribas Mutual Fund and Sundaram Mutual Fund), are expected to launch such a service very soon.

If you have invested in schemes across a number of fund houses, chances are that you will need to furnish your details to both the registrars – CAMS and Karvy separately. Similarly, if you have invested in schemes of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund or Sundaram Mutual Fund, you will need to contact the respective registrar to link Aadhaar to your mutual fund accounts.

To link your Aadhaar card to Mutual Fund accounts serviced by CAMS:

1. Visit the CAMS website and click on the option ‘Link Your Aadhaar’. Alternatively, you may directly visit the link - https://www.camsonline.com/InvestorServices/COL_Aadhar.aspx
2. Fill in a short form with your email id, PAN, Aadhaar number, and mobile number.
3. After submitting the details, a One Time Password (OTP) will be generated and sent to the registered mobile number. Enter the OTP and submit, you will get a success message stating that your Aadhaar has been successfully linked to your mutual fund folios.

Link your Aadhaar card to Mutual Fund accounts serviced by Karvy Computershare

1. Visit the Karvy website and click on the option ‘Link Your Aadhaar’. Alternatively, you may directly visit the link - https://www.karvymfs.com/karvy/Aadhaarlinking.aspx
2. If your email or mobile number is registered, enter your PAN to generate an OTP, which is sent to your registered email and mobile number.
3. On validating the OTP, you will see a list of mutual fund companies in which accounts have been opened. Enter your Aadhaar number in the field provided and click ‘Submit’ to complete the linking process.

Do note that the Aadhaar linking process, through either registrars, will only be successful if all the details such as Name, Date of Birth, Gender etc. match correctly. If there is a mismatch in these details, either at the registrar or at UIDAI, the linking will not be successful.

Link Aadhaar with PAN Card

The Government had recently amended the Income-Tax Act, 1961 introducing Section 139AA to make Aadhaar and PAN linkage mandatory for the taxpayers. This is done to curb the tendency to avoid filing taxes -- observed among citizens -- and to curtail the circulation of black money within the system. However, the Supreme Court stayed the amendments partially. Subsequently, the Government issued a circular stating that from July 1, 2017 onwards, every person eligible to obtain Aadhaar must quote their UID number or their Aadhaar Enrolment ID number to file Income Tax Returns as well as for PAN applications.

Here are three simple steps to link your Aadhaar with PAN:

Step 1: Visit the Income Tax website - https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/e-Filing/Services/LinkAadhaarHome.html

Step 2: Enter your PAN and Aadhaar details, and

Step 3: Complete the authentication process.

Link Aadhaar with Employee Provident Fund (EPF) Account

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in January 2017 made it mandatory for its pensioners and subscribers to submit their Aadhaar numbers. The deadline had been revised time and again in view of the slow progress over the UID number submission by members. The new deadline is set as June 30, 2017. The important benefit of linking Aadhaar with the provident fund Unique Account Number (UAN) is that it increases transparency and makes the verification process easier.

Before linking your Aadhaar card, you need to activate your UAN. Once done, you can update your UID number online through the process outlined below:

1. Visit - https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface
2. Login with your UAN and password
3. Under the ‘Manage’ tab, select ‘KYC’
4. Under this, you have the option to update details of several identification proofs, including Aadhaar
5. Enter your Aadhaar number and name as per Aadhaar and click “Save’

Your Aadhaar should get linked within a couple of weeks if all personal details match.

Link Aadhaar with Voter ID

You can link your Aadhaar with your Voter Id or Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number as well. Linking the Aadhaar with the EPIC is an effective way to get rid of bogus or multiple voter ID cards in a single individual’s name. The linking (also known as seeding) can be done through the following steps-

Through the Web Portal

1. Visit the National Voters’ Services Portal - http://nvsp.in
2. Find your name by clicking the box "Search Your Name”. Type your name, the name of your relation, state, and the constituency. Alternatively, you can find your name by entering your EPIC Number
3. As you see your details, please click the button ‘View’ on the extreme left-side of the row.
4. Feed in your UID number and your name as in Aadhaar data.
5. Register your mobile number and/email address to receive a confirmation of registration through SMS and/email.

Through Your Mobile Phone in 2 steps:

• Send a message in the following format - ECILINK [EPIC Number] [Aadhaar number] e.g. ECILINK IJH3456780 123456789123 to the number 51969
• You will get confirmation SMS

Apart from the above ways, you may soon be required to furnish your Aadhaar number when you travel by rail or air.

The Indian Railways Corporation has said that they are working to integrate Aadhaar with the online ticket booking system. With this, it may become mandatory to have an Aadhaar card to booking tickets online. A few days ago, the was reported that the Government is planning to make a unique ID, such as passport, PAN card or Aadhaar, mandatory for booking flight tickets to aid seamless airport entry and check-ins.

With Aadhaar-enabled financial transactions planned for the near future, whether we like it or not, Aadhaar may soon be the most important identification in the life of the aam aadmi.

You can also access Personalfn EPF calculator here.

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pbh151086@gmail.com Oct 27, 2018 krishi

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