Let’s Stop This Indiscriminate Freezing of Bank Accounts 1 In January, I wrote about how banks have been inflicting untold hardship on ordinary, law-abiding citizens by freezing bank accounts for not updating their KYC (know your customer) documents. This inflicts ‘financial death’ on people by depriving them of access to their own savings. KYC documents are basic identification documents such as your PAN number/Aadhaar or some address proof to prove that your account is bona fide.
We support the need for strict identification to prevent misuse of banking channels. But something is drastically wrong with the system when ordinary people are treated like criminals and tax-evaders and have their money frozen, while fraudsters, such as a closely regulated Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) could create lakhs of fake accounts in a fictitious branch (Bandra Books) to siphon thousands of crores of rupees. Their cousins at Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) opened 21,000 fake accounts that bypassed the core banking system and eventually led to the collapse of Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank) without ever attracting RBI’s (Reserve Bank of India’s) attention.