The Chairman/CEOs of all the insurers
December 27, 2012
Attention is drawn to clause (ii) under the head ‘Proof of Residence’ in Annexure I of the Master Circular 2010 on AML/CFT guidelines- IRDA Circular reference IRDA/F&I/CIR/AML/158/09/2010 dated 24th September 2010 which permits ‘Bank account statement not older than six months as on the date of acceptance’ as valid proof of residence. In partial modification of the same, the following documents are hereby included as acceptable towards proof of residence in place of the document stipulated at clause (ii) referred to above:
- Current Passbook with details of permanent/present residence address (updated upto the previous month) and
- Current statement of bank account with details of permanent/present residence address (as downloaded)
2. Attention is also drawn to the fact that Annexure-I of the Master Circular 2010 on AML/CFT guidelines provides for acceptance of ‘written confirmation from the banks where the prospect is a customer, regarding identification and proof of residence’.
It has come to our notice that customers in remote areas who have limited access to banking facilities have difficulty in providing such written confirmations from banks. After detailed deliberations, it is observed that this aspect is posing a hindrance to the financial inclusion measures. In view of the same, copies of the documents shown at Para 1 (i) & (ii) above are hereby, considered as ‘officially valid document’ towards Identity and address in case of micro insurance products. In such cases, it is advised that ‘written confirmation from banks’ need not be insisted upon.
3. The above requirement shall be implemented with immediate effect. Insurance companies are also advised to amend their AML/CFT policy suitably.
(R. K. Nair)
Member (F&I)
