The Reserve Bank of India said linking bank accounts to Aadhaar is mandatory under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. A statement issued by the central bank said in applicable cases, linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 published in the Official Gazette on 1 June 2017. It also said the anti-money laundering rules, which were amended in June 2017, have statutory force and banks have to implement them without awaiting further instructions. The government had notified under PMLA that every bank account should be linked to Aadhaar by 31 December, failing which the accounts will become inoperative.
