Is Aadhaar mandatory for Small Savings Accounts - PPF, SCSS, SSY? Complete details here

Aadhaar for Small Savings Accounts: It is mandatory for those investing in Senior Citizen Savings, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, PPF to provide Aadhaar.

As per the notification shared by the Ministry of Finance on April 3, 2023, for opening a fresh account, the Aadhar number of the customer issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India should be submitted to the Accounts Office as identity proof in accordance with the Government Savings Promotion General (Amendment) Rules, 2023. This means that it is now mandatory for citizens investing in schemes like the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSM), Public Provident Fund (PPF), etc., to provide Aadhaar as identity proof.

Aadhaar for Small Savings Accounts: The customer is supposed to provide the Aadhar number to the Accounts office within a period of six months from the date of opening the account.

What if you don't have an Aadhar number?

In case a person doesn’t have an Aadhar number, they can apply for the Aadhar scheme and use the proof of application of enrolment as proof for opening a new account for any of the savings schemes.

When do you have to provide the Aadhar number for opening of account?

The customer is supposed to provide the Aadhar number to the Accounts office within a period of six months from the date of opening the account. Failing to do so will result in his account being ceased to operate till the submission of the Aadhar number to the Accounts Office.

Do you need PAN card for this as well for Small Savings Accounts?

In the notification, the Ministry has also notified that a Permanent Account Number (PAN) is also necessary under the following circumstances in case it was not submitted at the time of opening the account. This is required to be done within two months of the occurrence of any of the following:

(i)the balance in the account exceeds fifty thousand rupees at any point in time or

(ii) the total 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.

What if you don't submit PAN card for Small Savings Accounts?

In case a person fails to submit the PAN within the period, the account will cease to operate until the PAN has been submitted in the Accounts Office.