The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday has extended the mandatory requirement of updating KYC information periodically by three months to 31 March 2022. The relaxation has been given taking into account the prevailing uncertainty around the new omicron variant. “In view of the prevalent uncertainty due to the new variant of Covid-19, the relaxation provided in the aforementioned circular is hereby extended till March 31, 2022,” the central bank said in a notification on Thursday.
Earlier in May, when the second wave of COVID-19 had hit the country and several states mandated lockdowns, RBI had given customers an extension to update their KYC information till 31 December 2021. The extension was given so that banks, and other regulated entities do not put restrictions on account holders for cash deposits, or withdrawals.
Under the mandate laid out by the central bank, regulated entities such as banks, mutual funds, and financial companies are required to comply with know-your-customer (KYC) norms. Account holders are required to submit documents such as identity proof and address proof, with an option to submit KYC forms, video KYC or sharing the documents through DigiLocker.
In its Financial Stability Report published Wednesday, RBI acknowledged the threat of the newly emerged omicron variant. RBI noted that omicron has cast a shadow on global economic prospects and it haunts near-term prospects on the domestic front. “The global recovery is clouded by the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19,” RBI said in the report.
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