The Reserve Bank of India asked banks and other regulated financial entities not to impose any punitive restriction against customers for failure to update KYC till 31 December 2021 due to the second wave of Covid-19 affecting the country.
For new categories of customers such as proprietorship firms, authorized signatories and beneficial owners of legal entities, the central bank has decided to extend the scope of video KYC or V-CIP (video-based customer identification process).
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that Regulated Entities are being advised not to impose any punitive restriction on operations of customer accounts till December 31,2021, where periodic KYC is due/pending. To deal with the ongoing COVID-related restrictions in various parts of the country, this announcement was made by him.
While addressing, the Governor further emphasized that the RBI is battle ready to ensure that financial conditions remain congenial, and markets continue to work efficiently.
The Governor said the RBI will continue to be proactive throughout the year – taking small and big steps – to deal with the evolving situation and he announced several sets of measures to tackle the situation due the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Smrutirekha Bhoi