Old Indian Currencies

Victoria Portrait Series The first set of British India notes were the 'Victoria Portrait' Series issued in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000. These were unifaced, carried two language panels and were printed on hand-moulded paper manufactured at the Laverstock Paper Mills (Portals).  The security features incorporated the watermark (GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, RUPEES, two signatures and wavy lines), the printed signature and the registration of the notes.  Rupees Ten Rupees Hundered British India Notes facilitated inter-spatial transfer of funds. As a security precaution, notes were cut in half. One set was sent by post. On confirmation of receipt, the other half was dispatched by post.  Half note  This series remained largely unchanged till the introduction of the 'King's Portrait' series which commenced in 1923.  Green Underprint - Rupees Five Hundred Green Underprint - Rupees Five Red Underprint - Rupees Fifty Small Denomination Notes The introduction of small denomination notes in India was essentially in the realm of the exigent. Compulsions of the first World War led to the introduction of paper currency of small denominations. Rupee One was introduced on 30th November, 1917 followed by the exotic Rupees Two and Annas Eight. The issuance of these notes was discontinued on 1st January, 1926 on cost benefit considerations. These notes first carried the portrait of King George V and were the precursors of the 'King's Portrait' Series which were to follow.  Rupee One - Obverse Rupee One - Reverse Rupees Two and Annas Eight - Obverse King's Portrait Series Regular issues of this Series carrying the portrait of George V were introduced in May, 1923 on a Ten Rupee Note. The King's Portrait Motif continued as an integral feature of all Paper Money issues of British India . Government of India continued to issue currency notes till 1935 when the Reserve Bank of India took over the functions of the Controller of Currency. These notes were issued in denominations of Rs 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 10,000.  Rupees Fifty Rupees One Thousand The Bank's issues to January 1938 when the first Five Rupee note was issued bearing the portrait of George VI  Rupees Five - First Note issued by Reserve Bank of India This was followed by Rs 10 in February, Rs 100 in March and Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 in June 1938. Rupee One - Hundred Rupee One - Thousand In August 1940, the one-rupee note was reintroduced, once again as a war time measure, as a Government note with the status of a rupee coin. Rupee One Obverse Rupees One Reverse Rupees Two As an added security feature, the security thread was introduced for the first time in India. George VI Profile The George VI series continued till 1947 and thereafter as a frozen series till 1950 when post independence notes were issued.

Source:http://www.livechennai.com/India'soldcurrency_1.asp

Read more ...

Recent Developments in Banking

In this post I have covered the details of various recent developments  related to banking. I hope that the same will be useful for the staff of banks who are appearing for the tests and interviews for their promotions:

1.Current Rates as on 2.11.2012:

a)Policy Rates:

i)Bank Rate:                  9%

(Bank Rate is the rate at which  RBI  allows finance to commercial banks. Bank Rate is a tool, which central bank  uses for short-term purposes. Any upward revision in Bank Rate by central bank is an indication that banks should also increase    deposit rates  as well as Base Rate/ Benchmark Prime Lending Rate(BPLR).  Thus any revision in the Bank rate indicates that it is likely that interest rates on your deposits are likely to either go up or go down,  and it can also indicate  an increase or decrease in your EMI.)

ii)Repo Rate:                  8%

( Repo Rate: Whenever the banks have any shortage of funds they can borrow it from RBI.  Repo rate is  the rate at which our banks borrow rupees from RBI. A reduction in  the repo rate will help banks to get money at a cheaper rate.  When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive.)

iii)Reverse Repo Rate:     7%

Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) borrows money from banks. Banks are always ready to lend money to RBI since their money are in safe hands with a good interest. An increase in Reverse repo rate can cause the banks to transfer more funds to RBI due to this attractive interest rates. It can cause the money to be drawn out of the banking system. 

b)Reserve Ratios:

i)CRR                         4.50%

(CRR(Cash Reserve Ratio):Cash reserve Ratio (CRR) is the amount of Cash(liquid cash like gold) that    the banks have to keep with RBI. This Ratio is basically to secure solvency of the bank and to drain out the excessive money from the banks. If RBI decides to increase the percent of this, the available amount with the banks comes down and if RBI reduce the CRR then available amount with Banks increased and they are able to lend more.)

ii)SLR                        23.00%

(CRR(Cash Reserve Ratio):Cash reserve Ratio (CRR) is the amount of Cash(liquid cash like gold) that    the banks have to keep with RBI. This Ratio is basically to secure solvency of the bank and to drain out the excessive money from the banks. If RBI decides to increase the percent of this, the available amount with the banks comes down and if RBI reduce the CRR then available amount with Banks increased and they are able to lend more.)

 ( Ref my post on  Monetary Tools used by RBI to control Inflation with the following link to know more details: http://anayang95.blogspot.in/2011/09/monetary-tools-used-by-rbi-to-control.html )

2.RBI clarifies on penalty clause for 'survivors'

The Reserve Bank of India has adivsed banks to make sure to incorporate the "either or survivor" or "former or survivor" clause in their account opening forms.

RBI had advised that in case joint depositors of term/fixed deposits with "Either or Survivor" or "Former or Survivor" mandate intend to allow premature withdrawal of their deposits by one of the joint depositors on the death of the other.

RBI also clarified that such premature withdrawal would not attract any penal charge on survivor.

The joint deposit holders may be permitted to give the mandate either at the time of placing fixed deposit or anytime subsequently during the term/tenure of the deposit. If such a mandate is obtained, banks can allow premature withdrawal of term/fixed deposits by the surviving depositor without seeking the concurrence of the legal heirs of the deceased joint deposit holder.

RBI has also asked banks to inform their existing along with future term deposit holders about the availability of such an option.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also advised regional rural and co-operative banks to modify Fixed Deposit account opening forms to allow premature withdrawal of FD on death of one of the joint account holders without any penalty. Under the modified norms, it will be easier for the surviving joint account holders to go for premature withdrawal of FD in the event of death of the other. 

As per the RBI notification, banks will have to incorporate a clause in the FD form to give option of premature withdrawal by survivor in case of death of the other joint account holder.

3. Deduction on Interest on Saving Account – 80TTA

Individuals and HUFs can now claim deduction on Interest on saving account from 1st April, 2013 u/s 80TTA. Section 80TTA has been newly inserted to provide deduction in respect of interest on deposits in Savings Accounts held with Banks, Post office and Cooperative Banks.

Eligible Assessee

Deduction on Interest on saving account will be allowed only to Individuals and HUF’s (Hindu Undivided Family).

Section 80TTA deduction shall not be allowed to any Partnership firm, Association of Persons, Company or a body of individuals.

Qualifying – Saving Account

Deduction in respect of Interest on saving account with any of the following will qualify:

    Bank or banking company;
    Co-operative Society engaged in carrying on the business of banking, including a co-operative land mortgage bank or co-operative land development bank,
    Post office Saving Account.

Other Relevant Points

Deposit in other scheme of Post office or time deposit or term deposit or fixed deposits will not be allowed.

Moreover, where the interest on saving account is derived from any deposit in a savings account held by, or on behalf of, a firm, an association of persons or a body of individuals, no deduction shall be allowed in respect of such income in computing the total income of any partner of the firm or any member of the association or body.

Quantum of Deduction

Deduction shall be allowed upto Rs. 10000 in aggregate.

Availability

Deduction will be available to an assessee, being an individual and HUF’s from 1st April, 2013. In other words, deduction on Interest on saving account will apply from financial year 2015-2013 (Assessment year 2015-2014) and subsequent years.

4. ISSUE OF CHEQUES WITH UNIFORM FEATURES CONFORMING TO CHEQUE TRUNCATION SYSTEM (CTS)2010:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  directed all banks to issue cheques with uniform features conforming to Cheque Truncation System (CTS) 2010 standard by the end of September 2012.

The homogeneity in security features act as deterrent against frauds, and the fixed field placement specifications facilitate straight-through-processing at drawee banks’ end through the use of optical or image character recognition technology, RBI said in a notification.

Adherence to CTS-2010 standards has inherent advantages as the security features in cheque forms help the presenting banks to identify the genuineness of the drawee banks’ instruments while handling them in the image based scenario, it said.

To ensure the time-bound migration to CTS-2010 standard cheque formats, all banks are advised to arrange only “multi-city or payable at par CTS-2010 standard cheques not later than September 30, 2012,” it said.

“Arrange to withdraw the non-CTS-2010 standard cheques in circulation before December 31, 2012 by creating awareness among customers through SMS alerts, letters, display boards in branches/ATMs, log-on message in internet banking, notification on the web-site etc,” it said.

The introduction of new cheque standards ‘CTS 2010’ was warranted on account of several developments in the cheque clearing namely growing use of multi-city and payable-at-par cheques at any branch of a bank, increasing popularity of speed clearing for local processing of outstation cheques and implementation of grid based CTS for image-based cheque processing etc., it said.

Will your Cheque Book be valid after 31^st December, 2012?

As per RBI guidelines, there have been certain changes made to the cheques issued by the Bank. However, these changes are available only in cheque books issued after August 2011. If you have obtained the cheque book prior to this, the cheques will not be valid after December 31, 2012.  

If the cheques you currently hold have the following features, they will be valid after the given date.

• "Please sign above" is mentioned on cheque leaf on the lower right  hand side.
• A wave like design is embossed on the left-hand side of Cheque leaf   

Below is the new sample cheque format from HDFC Bank  

Additionally, any post-dated cheques issued by you and due after December 31, 2012 will need to be replaced by the fresh cheques meeting the above mentioned guidelines. 

Please contact your bank branch for new cheque book.

5. DISABLING OF ATM CASH RETRACTION:

What is ‘Cash Retraction’?

‘Cash Retraction’ means if the cash notes are not collected from ATM
slot within specified time, cash notes are taken back by the ATM.

The banks have done away with the cash retraction system in ATMs. The systemwas withdrawn  after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) agreed to National Payments Corporation of India's proposal for removing the feature from all ATMs to deal with the increasing number of fraudulent claims about non-receipt of cash. 

Banks have posted messages on their websites that the system has been disabled. The step has been taken to prevent the misuse of the system as RBI has received complaints about people trying to defraud banks by holding on to some withdrawn currency notes in ATMs and then claiming non-receipt of cash after the machine takes back the rest. 

Now, every time you visit an ATM for cash withdrawal; please remember the following:
Always collect all your cash notes while doing a cash withdrawal transaction  

 If all cash notes are not collected, cash will not be taken back by the ATM machine and will remain there till the time the cash is not collected

Count all your notes before leaving the ATM site

6. Post Offices to have ATM facility soon

On the occasion of World Post Day , the Department of Post announced a proposal to install ATMs at several post offices in the state. “The Banking Services are available but this will enable anywhere, anytime banking. It will give easy access to electronic clearing services and fund transfer. 519 Post offices have been identified for core Banking Services. 1403 Post offices have been covered under project arrow. Out of these,141 Post offices have been covered under look & feel.” said Shri A.K. Sharma, Chief Postmaster General of Maharashtra and Goa.

World Post Day marks the institution of the Universal Postal Union way back in 1847 in Bern in Switzerland. In India, the dept. has come a long way from the time it merely courier letters and parcels to multi –utility facilitator of products and services. Sharma added there were plans to network all the post offices through computers. “We are partnering with firms like TCS for training staff, Infosys for full service integration and Sify will handle our network integration.” he said.

(Source:http://egov.eletsonline.com/2012/10/post-offices-to-have-atm-facility-soon/)

7. RBI sets up committee for sustainable financial inclusion

RBI has constituted a high level Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee (FIAC) to spearhead the efforts towards greater financial inclusion. The collective expertise and experience of the members of the committee will explore issues such as developing viable and sustainable banking services delivery models focusing on accessible and affordable financial services, developing products and processes for rural as well as urban consumers presently outside the banking network and suggest appropriate regulatory framework to ensure that financial inclusion and financial stability move in tandem.

The Committee will be chaired by Dr. K.C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India and will comprise of members of board of directors of RBI, professors from eminent institutions, and senior level officials from UIDAI and banks. Executive Director in-charge of Rural Planning and Credit Department, Reserve Bank of India will be the convenor of the committee.

Ensuring accessible and affordable financial services in all 6 lakh villages in India is a herculean task and given the enormity of the task, a lot of ground still needs to be covered.  This calls for a partnership of all the stakeholders – RBI, other sectoral regulators like Securities and Exchange Board of India. While the regulators and the Government of India are already part of the financial inclusion project, a need was felt to engage the members from the civil society/Non-Governmental Organisations and others for a sound and purposeful collaboration.

The committee, if necessary, would call other market players like Corporate Business Correspondents, Technology Vendors etc., as special invitees to the meetings. Since the financial inclusion model selected in India is primarily bank-led, the committee may also invite the Chairperson/Managing Directors of banks to its meetings to gather the perspective of the banks.

(Source:http://egov.eletsonline.com/2012/10/rbi-sets-up-committee-for-sustainable-financial-inclusion/)

Read more ...

Tips for Safe Use of Automatic Teller Machines(ATMs)

About Automatic Teller Machines(ATMs)

An Automated Teller Machine (ATM), also known as a Cash Point (which is a trademark of Lloyds TSB), Cash Machine or sometimes a Hole in the Wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a cashier, human clerk or bank teller. ATMs are known by various other names including ATM Machine, automatic banking machine, and various regional variants derived from trademarks on ATM systems held by particular banks.

Invented by IBM, the first ATM was introduced in December 1972 at Lloyds Bank in the UK. However, there is a plaque on Barclays Bank in Enfield Town, north London stating that the first ATM (in the world) was installed there on the 27th June 1967. 

On most modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smart card with a chip, that contains a unique card number and some security information such as an expiration date or CVVC (CVV). 

Authentication is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN).

Using an ATM, customers can access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals, credit card cash advances, and check their account balances as well as purchase prepaid cellphone credit. If the currency being withdrawn from the ATM is different from that which the bank account is denominated in (e.g.: Withdrawing Japanese Yen from a bank account containing US Dollars), the money will be converted at a wholesale exchange rate. Thus, ATMs often provide the best possible exchange rate for foreign travelers and are heavily used for this purpose as well.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_teller_machine)


Whereas there are many advantages in the usage of  Automatic Teller Machines, the users should take enough precautions in the safe keeping  of the ATM cards provided to them and also to take precautions while doing transactions in  ATMs.

Tips for Safe Use of  Automatic Teller Machines(ATMs)

KEEP ATM CARD SAFE AND SECURE

i) Your card is very important and must be kept safely.

ii) Do not not keep your ATM card near any magnet or magnetic gadget like television set, magnetic compass, purse or wallet having magnetic locking arrangements as magnetic field may erase all data stored in the magnetic strip of your ATM card.

iii) Store your ATM card in a secure place where you will immediately know if it is missing.

iv) Store the ATM card carefully so that the magnetic stripe does not get damaged.
v) Never leave your Card unattended at places like your car, in a hotel room, workplace or at the bar and restaurant you visit
vi)DO NOT bend the card.
vii)DO NOT place two cards with magnetic stripes together.
viii)Cancel unused cards and shred blocked cards.

ix)Immediately report any stolen or lost ATM card to the proper authorities

                                          Security of ATM  PIN

• Your ATM PIN must be kept very secret since ATM card  can be misused by a person if he/she steals both the ATM card and the ATM PIN together.
• Change your PIN frequently; do not write it a piece of paper  or on the face/back of the ATM card but memorise it.
• Select a PIN that must be difficult to guess; avoid household numbers such as house number, car number, birthday etc.
• Never disclose your PIN to anyone including members of your family or relatives; if it gets divulged for some reason, change it immediately.
• Do not  keep pin and card together under any circumstances.

Precautions to be taken while doing transaction with the card

• Avoid using ATMs in remote / unprotected areas and avoid ATMs adjacent to obvious hiding places.
• If you want us to alert you whenever a transaction takes place on your account / Credit Card, you can register for the Bank's SMS Service by registering your Mobile number.

• Shield the screen and keyboard so anyone waiting to use the ATM cannot see you enter your PIN or transaction amount.
• Be careful when people you do not know offer to help you at an ATM.
• If you notice anything suspicious at the ATM you want to use e.g. tampering with the card slot / numbers pad or any suspicious activity around the ATM area, do not use the ATM and report your concern to the Bank immediately.
• Do not force your card into the card slot or if you feel that the ATM machine is not working properly for any reason, press the “Cancel” key, take your card and report it to the Bank. 
• If your card gets lost, captured or stuck in the ATM, report it to the Bank to block your card immediately.
• Make sure you get the card back after every transaction & only use it at ATMs /Point of Sale (POS) machines in reputed public locations / locations known to you.

• When using a drive in ATM, keep doors locked and passenger side and rear windows up.
• While using your card at a POS, ensure  that the merchant swipes the card in your presence.
• Check your account balances and statements regularly to ensure your accounts have not been accessed by anyone else and to identify any unusual transaction(s). 

Read more ...

Anti Money Laundering Act and Know Your Customer (KYC) Policy

What is Money Laundering?

Money laundering is a process whereby the origin of funds generated by illegal means is concealed (drug trafficking, arms smuggling, corruption, etc.). The objective of the operation, which usually takes places in several stages, consists of making the capital and assets that are illegally gained, seem as though they are derived from a legitimate source, and inserting them into economic circulation.

What are the Stages of Money Laundering?

Placement: Placement is the first stage in the money laundering process. It refers to the placement of proceeds derived from illegal activities into financial institutions.

Layering: "Layering" refers to the separation of proceeds from illegal source by using complex financial transactions. Layering conceals the audit trail and provides anonymity.

Integration: The third phase is integration, which means conversion of illegal proceeds into apparently legitimate business earnings through normal financial or commercial operations.

What are the Objectives of Anti- Money Laundering Act?

a.    To prevent criminal elements from using the Banking System for money laundering activities.

b.    To enable the Bank to know / understand the customers and their financial dealings better, which in turn would help the Bank to manage risks prudently.

c.    To put in place appropriate controls for detection and reporting of suspicious activities in accordance with applicable laws/laid down procedures.

d.    To comply with applicable laws and regulatory guidelines.

e.    To take necessary steps to ensure that the concerned staff are adequately trained in KYC/AML Procedures.

What is the risk perception of Money Laundering  and what are the Guidelines and Act prevailing in India to prevent Money Laundering?

Money laundering activities expose the banks to various risks such as operational risks, reputation risk, compliance risk and legal risk.  


In order to ensure that banks are not used by the money launderers, the Reserve Bank of India has issued KYC guidelines by invoking section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act. 

India now has a specific money laundering law in the ‘Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002’ (PMLA) and its intention is to become a full member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 

         
            The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 has come into effect 
         from 1st July 2005. 


         Necessary Notifications / Rules under the said Act  have been published  
         in the  Gazette of  India on  1st  July 2005 by the Department of 
         Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

Obligations  of Banks under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002:

Section 12 of PMLA-2002 casts following reporting obligations for Banking Companies, to Director, FIU-IND (Financial Intelligence Unit – India) besides obligations of record keeping and preservation of information.

(i) Cash Transaction Report (CTR)


 To be reported on monthly basis.

(a) all cash transactions of the value of more than Rs. 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency and

 (b) all series of cash transactions integrally connected to each other, which have been valued below Rs. 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency where such series of transactions have taken place within a month and the aggregate value of such transactions exceeds Rs. 10 lakh; however, individual transactions for below Rs. 50,000 are not to be included in CTR.

(ii) Suspicious Transactions Report (STR)

This report should be submitted as and when any suspicious transaction takes place, whether cash or non-cash or a series of transactions integrally connected.

iii) Counterfeit currency Report (CCR): 


Transactions relating to deposit of counterfeit currency notes or defrauding the bank by forged high value securities etc shall be reported as and when any such incident takes place.

Monitoring of Transactions

  Monitoring of transactions will be conducted taking into consideration the risk profile of the account. Special attention will be paid to all complex, unusually large transactions and all unusual patterns which have no apparent economic or visible lawful purpose. Transactions that involve large amounts of cash inconsistent with the normal and expected activity of the customer will be subjected to detailed scrutiny.

While opening the account an indicative threshold limit should be fixed as under:

Ø  For accounts of individuals. Rs 10 lakhs or 25% of the annual income, whichever is higher

Ø  For business enterprises, Rs 10 lakhs or one-month turnover whichever is higher.

Principal Officer (Money Laundering Reporting Officer): 


Banks will designate a senior officer as Principal Officer who shall be responsible for implementation of and compliance with this policy.

His illustrative duties will be as follows –

a.    Monitoring the implementation of the Bank's KYC/AML Policy.

b.    Reporting of Transactions and sharing of the information as required under the law.

c.    Maintaining liaison with law enforcement agencies.

d.    Ensuring submission of periodical reports to the Top Management/Board.

Preservation and Maintenance of Records under PML Act, 2002

       Branches of banks  should maintain proper records of the following       
       transactions-

•     All cash transactions of the value of more than Rs 10 lakhs or its equivalent in foreign currency
•   All series of cash transactions integrally connected to each other which  have been valued below Rs 10 lakhs or equivalent in foreign currency which such series of transactions have taken place with in a month and aggregate value of such transactions exceeds Rs 10 lakhs
•   All forged cash transactions where forged or counterfeit currency notes or bank notes have been used  as genuine and where any forgery of a valuable security has taken place
•    All suspicious transactions whether or not made in cash

Know Your Customer (KYC) Policy:

Money laundering activities expose the banks to various risks such as operational risks, reputation risk, compliance risk and legal risk.  In order to ensure that banks are not used by the money launderers, the Reserve Bank of India has issued KYC guidelines by invoking section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act.


Objective of KYC Guidelines:


The objective of KYC guidelines is to prevent banks from being used, intentionally or unintentionally, by criminal elements for money laundering activities. KYC procedures also enable banks to know/understand their customers and their financial dealings better which in turn help them manage their risks prudently.

As per RBI KYC Guidelines all the banks should frame their KYC policies incorporating the following four key elements:

1. Customer Acceptance Policy;
2. Customer Identification Procedures;
3. Monitoring of Transactions; and
4. Risk management.

A customer for the purpose of this policy is defined as:

a.    A person or an entity that maintains an account and/or has a business relationship with the Bank.

b.    One on whose behalf the account is maintained (i.e. the beneficial owner).

c.    Beneficiaries of transactions conducted by professional intermediaries such as Stock Brokers, Chartered Accountants, Solicitors etc. as permitted under the law, and

d.    any person or entity connected with  financial transactions, say, wire transfer, high value DD etc.

Customer Acceptance Policy

The Bank will:

a.    classify customers into various risk categories and based on risk perception decide on acceptance criteria for each category of customers;

b.    accept customers after verifying their identity as laid down in Customer Identification Procedures;

c.    not open accounts in the name of anonymous/fictitious/ benami persons

Customer Identification Procedures

Customer Identification has been defined as identifying the customer and verifying his/her identity by using reliable, independent source documents, data or information. Emphasis has been laid on verifying customer identity not only while establishing a banking relationship but also at the time of executing a transaction or when the bank has a doubt about the authenticity/veracity or the adequacy of the previously obtained customer identification data.

Wherever applicable, information on the nature of business activity, location, mode of payments, volume of turnover, social and financial status etc. will be collected for completing the profile of the customer.

Customers will be classified into three risk categories namely High, Medium and Low, based on the risk perception.

Different identification procedure has been prescribed for different risk categories.

Banks should obtain sufficient identification data to verify the identity of the customer, his address/location and also his recent photograph, while for legal persons/ entities, extra caution has been suggested.

An indicative list of documents/information to verify the identity, address and other features suggested by RBI is given below.

Features	Documents
Accounts of individuals Legal name and any other names used Correct permanent address	(i) Passport (ii) PAN card (iii) Voter’s Identity Card (iv) Driving licence (v) Identity card (subject to the bank’s satisfaction) (vi) Letter from a recognized public authority or public servant verifying the identity and residence of the customer to the satisfaction of bank (i) Telephone bill (ii) Bank account statement (iii) Letter from any recognized public authority (iv) Electricity bill (v) Ration card (vi) Letter from employer (subject to satisfaction of the bank)( any one document which provides customer information to the satisfaction of the bank will suffice )
Accounts of companies Name of the company Principal place of business Mailing address of the company Telephone/Fax Number	(i) Certificate of incorporation and Memorandum & Articles of Association (ii) Resolution of the Board of Directors to open an account and identification of those who have authority to operate the account (iii) Power of Attorney granted to its managers, officers or employees to transact business on its behalf (iv) Copy of PAN allotment letter (v) Copy of the telephone bill
Accounts of partnership firms Legal name Address Names of all partners and their addresses Telephone numbers of the firm and partners	(i) Registration certificate, if registered (ii) Partnership deed (iii) Power of Attorney granted to a partner or an employee of the firm to transact business on its behalf (iv) Any officially valid document identifying the partners and the persons holding the Power of Attorney and their addresses (v) Telephone bill in the name of firm/partners
Accounts of trusts & foundations Names of trustees, settlers, beneficiaries and signatories Names and addresses of the founder, the managers/directors and the beneficiaries Telephone/fax numbers	(i) Certificate of registration, if registered (ii) Power of Attorney granted to transact business on its behalf (iii) Any officially valid document to identify the trustees, settlors, beneficiaries and those holding Power of Attorney, founders/managers/ directors and their addresses (iv) Resolution of the managing body of the foundation/association (v) Telephone bill

Relaxation for Small Customers

If a person is unable to produce documents mentioned a relaxation was extended if:

(a) Balance is not exceeding Rs. 50,000 in all their accounts taken together, and (b) the total credit in all the accounts taken together is not expected to exceed Rs. 200,000 in a year, subject to introduction from another KYC compliant existing customer having satisfactory performance for atleast six months. The photograph is also to be verified by such introducer. 


Further, RBI has suggested stopping the transactions as and when balance reaches Rs. 40,000 and turnover reaches Rs.80,000 by notifying the customer if the customer fails to comply with normal KYC procedure.

 Link to Master Circular BY RBI on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards/Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT)/Obligation of banks under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA), 2002:
http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=5134&Mode=0#1

Read more ...