Migrant workers still having trouble opening bank accounts
Banks ignoring RBI notification loosening Know your Customer rules
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Lack of proper address proof prevents migrant workers from saving their earnings as they are unable to open bank accounts. |
By Pallavi Ail
BANGALORE (Jan. 19)— Migrant workers in the state are unable to open bank accounts in spite of a Reserve Bank of India notification relaxing regulations for opening them.
Twenty-four-year-old Hariprakash, a native of Bihar, has no bank account in spite of living in Bangalore for over a year.
“The bank people ask for a local address proof,” he said. “Where do we have that?”
His views were echoed by 30-year-old Pateshwari Prasad from Uttar Pradesh, who said, “We want to send money home where our parents stay, but without bank accounts, we have no choice but to give money to acquaintances to take home. Sometimes, the money gets stolen en route.”
Both Hariprakash and Pateshwari Prasad work at the metro construction site on Mysore Road, and among all the workers they know, only their contractor has a personal bank account, they said.
Central bank unaware of problem
“The rules for migrant labourers who want to open bank accounts are considerably relaxed now,” said Baiga, general manager of operations, Karnataka, at the Reserve Bank of India. “We may receive some odd one or two complaints about accounts, and if we do, we transfer it to central office in Delhi, where policy decisions are made.
He was unaware of the migrants’ continuing trouble with opening bank accounts despite the bank’s notification.
Under the so-called Know Your Customer rules set by the RBI, a prospective account holder must provide the bank with a photo identity proof as well as an address proof before a bank account can be opened.
On Oct. 5, 2011, the RBI made public a notification that loosened the rules for domestic transactions.
Number of migrant workers in state unknown
Although the 2001 census states that there were nearly 30 million people in India who had migrated from their homes in search of employment, it is difficult to estimate the number of migrant workers in any given state.
According to a report by the central government Labor Ministry, “Most of the migrant labourers do not have a fixed place of work and keep shifting from one place to another.”
The notification says, “A large number of people, particularly the migrant population, do not have access to formal banking channels for want of proof of identity/address.”
As a result of this, they face difficulties in using the authorized channels for transferring funds.
The bank has been receiving frequent complaints to open up their formal banking channel to facilitate fund transfers of up to Rs. 10,000.
Rajesh Mohanty from Assam said: “What if we want to save more? We want to have savings of more than Rs. 10,000. But that is not allowed. Even if we want to save, we can’t.”
Employers can help open bank accounts
Nineteen-year-old M.D. Gilsar from Bihar, who helps set up for ceremonies in Palace Grounds, has a different story to tell.
“I have a bank account, but it was opened for me by my employer,” he said. “He maintains it for us.”
Bank accounts can be opened if an introduction is given by an existing bank customer. However, migrant workers seldom have steady employment and by extension, do not have a regular employer.
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