This appeared first on LinkedIn.
OK, so here’s a reality check about the so-called digitally interconnected identities we all are supposed to have willy-nilly, SC judgments notwithstanding.
Since November 2017, my bank (I am a customer since 1994, a good 24 years now) is asking me for KYC documents. I was initially surprised that they don’t know me and still have been keeping my money for well over “A score and 4 years” but relented and asked them what they needed. I was told my Aadhaar card do fine. In any case, I had to link my account to my Aadhaar, and so I thought, “might as well.” Seems out I had actually connected my Aadhaar card over a year ago. Their website acknowledged this and so did their agent on phone.
So, what was the problem, I wondered.
I was told that the KYC Aadhaar requirement is separate from the Aadhaar linking! So, yes, they had my Aadhaar card, but it was for another purpose, and I had to submit it again.
OK, so I did what was asked: sent them a copy of my e-Aadhaar as downloaded from the official UIDAI website. It was rejected. They said they need a physical card!
I sent them the scan of my physical card, but they rejected that too. They said they needed the specific card that arrived in the mail when I applied for it.
I explained that the Aadhaar is NOT a card. It is merely a NUMBER. I sent them news clippings. I sent them UIDAI FAQ answers. I sent them RBI notifications. But they said that none of that matters. They need the original!
I asked them to shove their requirement where the sun don’t shine. They had my Aadhaar number already. They could just use that. Or they could go to hell.
And so it transpires that things were left well alone for some time, until last week, when I got a text saying my account is frozen because of missing KYC!
To cut a long story short, after over 18 mails, perhaps twice that many phone calls, and a visit, I finally managed to convince the bank manager (who met me after 4 hours of waiting at his branch) that the card I had in my wallet (the one that I had printed on my home colour laser computer, but claimed that I got from the Aadhaar centre) was acceptable “as an exception”. He promised to unfreeze my account “as a favour,” which he duly did 24 hours from then.
Now, I know a lot of you very strong warriors of justice have stories like, “I just stood my ground and the bank blinked” or something on similar lines. And I am sorry I capitulated in front of the system. But to be fair to me, I only have so much time, money, and energy to fight this shitty battle. I am just amazed how this society continues to function with such disregard for the rule of law, judgments of courts, and even government directions! If such a small “infringement” can totally cut me off from my own money, how would it work out if there was something bigger at stake? How does it work out for the poor and powerless? How does it work out for day-to-life when one has a simple choice: Put up or shut up, and mostly chooses to shut up because there is simply neither the bandwidth nor the resources to fight the system?
