Indians Don't Need To Declare Religion For Bank Account: Finance Ministry

The government on Saturday dispelled rumours claiming that Indian citizens will need to disclose their religion in their bank's ''Know Your Customer'' (KYC) forms.

"There is no requirement for the Indian citizens to declare their religion for opening/existing bank account or for KYC," Rajeev Kumar, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, tweeted.

There is no requirement for #Indian citizens to declare their religion for opening/ existing #Bank account or for #KYC. Do not fall for baseless rumours about any such move by Banks @PIB_India @DDNewsLive @PTI_News @FinMinIndia @PMOIndia

— Rajeev kumar (@rajeevkumr) December 21, 2019

"Do not fall for baseless rumours about any such move by banks," he added.

According to a media report, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians refugees -- from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan holding long-term visas (LTVs) -- will have to disclose their religion in the bank's KYC forms.