Brief Introduction:
A Central Know Your Customer (CKYC) number is required by law in India if you plan to invest in mutual funds or other financial assets and even for opening a bank account. Having a CKYC number will show financial regulators that you are a legitimate investor and help to verify your identity. The process for getting a CKYC number is relatively easy and once you have it, you do not need to apply for it again. With a few key personal documents and the right information on the application form, you can get your CKYC number and start investing right away.
cKYC stands for Central KYC which is a centralised repository that stores all the personal information of the customer centrally. Previously, there was a separate KYC process for each of the financial institutions such as banks, Mutual Fund houses, Insurance companies, etc. cKYC was brought in by the Government in order to bring all the KYC processes on a single and uniform platform.
So if you complete KYC verification with any of the financial entities, say a Bank, you don’t need to go through the tedious process of completing KYC with other market entities again.
The cKYC Registry is managed by the Central Registry of Securitisation and Asset Reconstruction and Securities Interest of India (CERSAI). The cKYC programme was announced in the 2012-13 Union Budget and it went live in July 2016.
If you already KYC compliant then you don’t need to do anything to be cKYC compliant. If you are not KYC compliant and are a first-time investor, you can follow the below process:·
· Download and fill up the cKYC form.
· Attach the self-attested documents for identity proof and address proof.
· Attach a photograph
You can complete this process at any financial institution regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDA or PFRDA. This means you can do the cKYC process with any bank, mutual fund house, insurance company etc.
Once you complete the process and your application is successful, you will receive a 14 digit KYC identification number (KIN). This KIN will help you to escape from completing the KYC process again with different financial entities.
What is ckyc in banks?
Central KYC Registry or CKYCR will now replace the existing multiple KYC submission process while opening savings bank accounts, buying life insurance or investing in mutual fund products into one time centralized process.
The Government of India has authorized the Central Registry of Securitization and Asset Reconstruction and Security interest of India (CERSAI) to manage this Central KYC Registry process. From 1st August, 2016 this new process will be applicable to all individuals.
Hence, it is important for all individuals to know the contents of Central KYC Registry or CKYCR form.
The beauty of this new CKYCR is that in the single form itself you will find the new KYC registration and modification feature. Also, the FATCA declaration is also available in same KYC form. As of now, you have to declare when you are investing. However, it is now made it mandatory of FATCA declaration while completing the KYC Process itself.
Features of Central KYC Registry (CKYCR) Form
· A single KYC for all your financial transactions.
· In existing format PAN is the sole identifier for an investor. However, in new Central KYC Registry system, the list goes beyond Aadhaar and PAN.
· A single form to create new KYC or modify the existing KYC.
· In existing KYC, mother’s name and proof of permanent address are mandatory (if your address for correspondence is not the same as permanent address).
· Three types of accounts are specified. One is Normal, second is Simplified or for low-risk customers and third is Small investors. You have to select which is applicable to you.
· If your aggregate of all credits in a financial year does not exceed rupees one lakh, the aggregate of all withdrawals and transfers in a month does not exceed rupees ten thousand or the balance at any point of time does not exceed rupees fifty thousand, then you will be considered as SMALL account type of investor.
· The simplified or low-risk customers means customers who are not able to submit anyone among 6 documents listed. They are Passport, driving license, PAN card, Voter ID, job card issued by NREGA or Aadhaar Card.
· If you will not fall in above two categories of investors like SMALL or SIMPLIFIED (Low-Risk Customers), then you have to mention it as NORMAL customers.
· FATCA declaration is also included in KYC form itself.
· You can add related persons like a guardian of minor, assignee or authorized representative KYC details in the same single form.
CKYC is a unique ID assigned to every financial entity which will help the regulators get a more accurate picture of transactions.
This has been mooted to meet a long due need of standardizing the identification process across Financial Institutions (FI). Banks, Insurance, Asset Management Companies (AMC or Mutual Fund companies) and other Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) were on 4 different tracks where Customer Details were being collected and maintained.
Also, the nature of documents accepted by different FIs were different. Some were okay with driving license, others were not. Credit Cards were easily issued whereas loans were not. CKYC eliminates the difference.
For the end-customer, CKYC means no more hassles of submitting KYC documents for every account opened, credit card or loan taken.
For the Government, it means better control over the monies.
CERSAI has mandated that all new accounts of Nationalized banks associate a CKYC ID. This is effective 1 Feb 2017. For co-operative banks there is more time available. Also, banks have to regularize their existing accounts that are active or dormant in their core-banking or other Customer Onboarding systems.
From a service provider perspective, CKYC is going to add considerable effort (read burden) on smaller or distant branches. Probably account opening or loan sanctions will not happen from such places where scanners and additional manpower are needed for CKYC compliance.
From Feb 1, 2017, new investors in mutual funds will have to do CYKC (Central Know Your Customer) before investing. All Nationalised Banks have to associate CKYC ID for new accounts opened.
As of now, existing investors in mutual funds who are KYC compliant can continue investing in mutual funds. No updation is required from their end.
The program was announced by the Government of India in the 2012-13 Union Budget and went live in July 2016.
When you do any transaction such as if you want to open a Bank account, or buy a Mutual Fund or buy insurance each of these institutions have to do KYC or Know your Customer. The Central KYC (cKYC) has been brought in to make the life easier for investors. So completing KYC process with any bank, Mutual Fund, or an insurance company will be enough and you won’t have to do this process again anywhere. Before the Central KYC (cKYC) there were separate KYC formats for different financial institutes like Mutual Funds, banks etc. The introduction of Central KYC (cKYC) aims to eliminate this dissimilarity across the investment platform.
Central KYC (cKYC) will store all the customer information at one central server that is accessible to all the financial institutions. After opening a KYC account, you will get a 14-digit identification number. So, you just have to show this number at the time of a new investment or purchasing a financial product with a financial institution. The number will have all your details saved centrally. It will save you and the company or bank from completing the tedious process of KYC all over again
What is the difference between KYC, eKYC, and cKYC?
The objective of the KYC guidelines is to prevent identity theft, financial fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. Money laundering is the process of concealing the source of money usually obtained through illegal sources such as drugs and arms trafficking, terrorism, extortion and theft. Our article Know Your Customer or KYC discusses why KYC is required.
KYC or Know your Customer: is the known and regular process in the Banks/Mutual Funds whereby the identity of an investor is verified based on written details submitted by him on a form, supplemented by an In-Person Verification (IPV) process. Once the verification is done successfully, the relevant investor data is entered into their database.
eKYC or electronic KYC: is KYC done with the help of an investor’s Aadhaar number. While completing the eKYC for Mutual Funds, the authentication of the investor’s identity can be done in following ways. Our article Aadhaar eKYC,eSign: Paperless for PAN, eNPS, Mutual Funds, Insurance discusses it in detail.Aadhaar eKYC,eSign: Paperless for PAN, eNPS, Mutual Funds,Insurance discusses it in detail.
(a) Via One Time Password (Limits investments to Rs 50,000 per year per mutual funds and mandates investments via the online electronic mode)
(b) Via Biometrics (No limits on the investment amount here unless those specifically imposed by the scheme / Fund House)
This data is uploaded into the records of the KRA.
cKYC or Central KYC is an initiative of the Government of India where the aim is to have a structure in place which allows investors to do their KYC only once. CKYC compliance will allow an investor to transact/deal with all entities governed/regulated by Government of India / Regulator (RBI, SEBI, IRDA and PFRDA) without the need to complete multiple KYC formalities which are an inconvenience/hindrance as of now. It will allow for larger market participation by investors, easing their journey on the financial highway. The CKYC processing is handled by CERSAI.
Who is managing cKYC?
This new KYC platform is promoted by the Government and PSU Banks. Central KYC (cKYC) is being managed by The Central Registry of Securitization and Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest in India (CERSAI)
Banks, insurance companies, Mutual Fund companies (AMCs) are now required to hand over their KYC records to CERSAI. CERSAI has now appointed DotEx International as its only managed service provider. Financial intuitions need to upload digital copies of client KYC data on this platform within three days after they onboard a client.
Institutions have to pay an advance fee to Central Registry of Securitization Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI). The requisite fee is deducted from this advance payment depending on the usage. Here is the fee structure for various transactions – upload: Rs. 0.80, download: Rs. 1.10, update: Rs. 1.15 per transaction.
How does cKYC help financial institutions?
Since the records are stored digitally, it helps intuitions de-duplicate data so that they don’t need to do KYC of customers multiple times. It helps institutions find out if the client is KYC compliant based on Aadhaar, PAN and other identity proofs. If the KYC details are updated on this platform by one entity, all other institutions get a real time update. Thus, the platform helps firms cut down costs substantially by avoiding multiplicity of registration and data upkeep.
What does one have to do for CKYC?
You now have to fill the new CKYC form. information that is currently sought on the current KYC form and the new CKYC form, is not same? CKYC requires additional information (for ex. mother’s name, FATCA information etc) .
· Central KYC (cKYC) asks about other details of the customer like maiden name, the name of mother, in the case of minors details of related persons, proof of permanent address where the local or corresponding address is not same.
· Along with the form, he has to submit a self-attested copy of his PAN card, and identity and address proofs, such as passport and Aadhaar card.
· Along with the CKYC form, photocopies of documents have to be physically verified and attested, and an in-person verification of the investor has to be done.
· NRI applicants can authorize a person to attest the documents. The may also conduct the in-person verification and confirm this in the KYC form.
· If you have more than one Correspondance or local address, then you can update them in Annexure A1.
· If you have more than one related person, then you can update their details in Annexure B1.
What does a first-time investor in mutual funds have to do for CKYC?
cKYC can be done through a mutual fund distributor, or the investor will have to visit the office of a mutual fund or a registrar. Note if you are existing Mutual Fund Investor, you don’t have to do anything.
How will I know that my cKYC application is successful?
You cannot check the CKYC status online. If one is allotted the KIN, it is confirmation that the investor is CKYC compliant. The KIN will be allotted by CERSAI within 4 – 5 working days.
Once the new form is processed a 14-digit KYC Identification Number (KIN) will be issued by CKYC, which has to be used to invest in all financial products including mutual funds. An SMS / email will be sent by CERSAI to the registered mobile number of the investor as soon as the KIN is generated at their end. Since CERSAI will not be sending any physical intimation, applicants should ideally provide their mobile number and/or email ID in the CKYC application form. A sample copy of the SMS that would be received by you from CERSAI is shown in the image below.
If the CKYC application is not processed/rejected for some reason, no intimation will be sent to the applicant from CERSAI. The entity processing your CKYC application will be aware of such rejections and can approach the financial institutions in case of any queries.
How many account types are there in Central KYC Form?
There are three account types in the Central KYC form – Normal, Simplified and Small. The account type can be guessed from the naming of KIN assigned.
For Normal Account, any of six officially valid documents (PAN, AADHAAR, Voter ID, Passport, Driving license, NREGA Job Card) can be submitted for the ID of the customer. If you do not fall in SMALL or SIMPLIFIED (Low-Risk Customers) category, then you are a NORMAL customer.
Simplified or Low-risk customers: LThe KYC identifier for Simplified Measures Account will have a prefix “L”. Low-risk customers are the individuals means customers who are not able to submit any of the 6 documents: Passport, driving license, PAN card, Voter ID, job card issued by NREGA or Aadhaar Card. They often face hurdles in submitting a proof of current or permanent address while opening a bank account. For such customers As per the RBI list, one can submit a copy of utility bills of any service provider, which is not more than two months old. These include telephone, piped gas, water, electricity or postpaid mobile phone bill. They can also submit property or municipal tax receipts; bank account or post office savings bank account statements; and pension or family pension payment orders issued to retired employees by Government departments or public sector undertakings, if these contain the address, to open an account. Details for Simplified Measures Account, there are additional Officially verified documents (OVDs) that are allowed as per RBI circular RBI/2015-16/42 dated July 1, 2015 – Point no. 2.3(i) & (ii) and point 3.2.2 I.A (iv) & (v)
Small Accounts: The KYC identifier for Small Account will have a prefix “S”. People who do not possess officially valid KYC documents can open a small account with the banks. These accounts can be opened by submitting a self-attested photograph along with the application by putting a signature or thumbprint on it in the presence of the bank official. These accounts will be initially valid for 12 months. Thereafter such accounts can be extended for another 12 months provided that the account holder provides a document showing that they have applied for the officially valid document within 12 months of the account opening.However, such account has some restrictions attached to it as listed below:
· There should not be more than Rs. 1,00,000 aggregate credits in a year.
· The aggregate withdrawals should not exceed Rs. 10,000 in a month.
· Balance in the account should not be more than Rs. 50,000 at any point in time.
