Airtel Payments Bank gets RBI nod to add new customers, can use e-KYC

The payments bank ran into a controversy after it allegedly opened savings accounts for existing customers without their express permissions

After being mired in controversy for a long time after an RBI order that prevented it from onboarding new customers, Airtel Payments Bank received requisite approvals from the central bank to start signing up new accounts, the company stated on Thursday.

The payments bank was at loggerheads with the authorities after it was reported that it opened savings bank account for existing customers without seeking their express permissions. These accounts eventually led to rerouting of government subsidies for LPG to the tune of Rs 1.68 billion being transferred to Airtel Payments Bank accounts even as many of the customers weren’t aware of the same.

“Airtel Payments Bank has received requisite approvals from the Reserve Bank of India to start onboarding new customers,” a spokesperson from the bank stated.

“Airtel Payments Bank has also been permitted by the UIDAI to resume the on-boarding of customers using Aadhaar based e-KYC. We thank the authorities for the approvals. We remain committed to the Government’s vision of financial inclusion and banking for all,” they added.

In January, the bank was barred from onboarding new customers pending an RBI enquiry and report on the same. The bank seems to have received approvals from the central bank to resume its normal function as it also got the permission to use Aadhaar e-KYC to sign up customers.

It should be noted that the Unique Identification Authority of India had also declined access to e-KYC to Airtel Payments Bank in its circular on May 16 in which it classified KYC users into local and global AUAs. While local authentication agencies got limited access to e-KYC services and only through Virtual IDs, global agencies included banks except Airtel Payments Bank which were allowed to use full e-KYC.