Digital wallet users scramble to complete KYC process post deadline

After the deadline passed on February 28, Ola Money, Paytm, Amazon Pay, MobiKwik, Freecharge, etc were just some of the many digital wallets that displayed error messages when users who hadn’t updated their KYC tried to access them. 

In compliance with the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) guidelines, wallets of non-KYC verified customers were severely restricted. Users were not allowed to add money to wallets, nor were they allowed to send money to friends and family. They were also not applicable for any offers eligible to KYC customers. There was a small consolation with customers able to become mini-KYC customers by using an official valid document ID number (Aadhaar, PAN or license number). 

“This let me access my Ola Money, but I was really not happy entering in my details. However, my friend didn’t have any documents on her, and had to find an ATM to draw money to pay for her ride. But my Paytm usage has been restricted - as a mini-KYC user, I am not able to keep more than Rs 10,000 in my wallet, nor am I able to send money to other wallets... it’s quite frustrating,” said Tilak Ram, a corporate employee. 

The OVD (official valid documents) approved by RBI includes the passport, driving licence, the PAN card, the Voter’s ID card, job card issued by NREGA signed by an official of the State Government, letter issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India containing name, address and Aadhaar number. Users of digital wallet will have to submit one of these for proof of ID and address for their full KYC to be done. 

But even with that process – several questions linger. Aruna Natarajan, a college student in the city, who initiated the process on Thursday, said, “I was prompted to complete my KYC verification to continue using Paytm. I was wary of using my Aadhaar as I wanted to wait for the SC verdict - so I used my voter ID details for the KYC process. But I’m still unable to use my wallet after providing the details as I got a message saying that someone from Paytm’s end will visit my address to verify the documents. I am not sure how long that will take so I am considering not using Paytm anymore. I have also been seeing many tweets about this issue where people have had to visit KYC centres to complete verification or were forced to sign up for the payments bank. This doesn’t bode well for the idea of a digital India.”