It has come to light that at least two nationalised banks have included “Letter from NPR” as a valid KYC (Know Your Customer) document and thus has become a part of the list of Officially Valid Documents (OVDs). The RBI has issued a directive to banks, a letter from NPR containing details of name and address is to be accepted by banks for opening a bank account or to fulfil any other KYC norms. Other documents that are a part of list of OVD are Permanent Account Number (PAN) card, driving licence, NREGA job card and the Aadhaar card.

The Central bank of India had issued a notification asking its customers to submit KYC details before January 31 and it said that those who failed to submit these details will not be able to withdraw/transfer money from their account. The KYC documents list included NPR letter. The Central Bank of India later issued a clarification saying that the NPR letter is not a mandatory document but only one of the alternatives for completing KYC. Even the State Bank of India (SBI) has included the NPR letter in it list of KYC documents.

The question however remains why has the RBI issued a notification to include a document in its KYC list when the document has not even come into existence yet. On January 17, the Centre is going to hold a preparatory meet for NPR with all the states. When the Centre itself has not gotten clarity on NPR, why has it already validated it as a valid identity document!

With more and more joining the opposition against NPR (National Population Register) which is to be the first step towards NRC (National Register of Citizens), the message is pretty clear for the Centre. The states’ non-cooperation towards NPR is a clear defiance of the Centre’s mandate but the Centre is undeterred and is aggressively pushing its agenda.

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