Managing administrative work in India

Mismatches between names in Aadhaar, PAN, and bank accounts cause major issues during financial transactions in India. The Indian banking system is well advanced compared to Canada/US, with many transactions being automated. These systems verify the name in your bank account against your Aadhaar and PAN. The biggest issue I faced was because my account was opened 20 years ago with the name “Joseph A.” Despite submitting KYC documentation throughout these years, the name remained with initials. However, in my Aadhaar, PAN, passport, PR card, etc., the initial is expanded to “Joseph Antony.” This discrepancy caused multiple automated transaction failures, including problems with my PF closure.

Aadhaar is required for most transactions in India. Although non-residents aren’t officially supposed to have Aadhaar, and the government has processes for non-residents, these alternative procedures are extremely cumbersome. Having an Aadhaar card makes everything much faster, especially if you own property or investments in India. You’ll need to present your Aadhaar at all government offices to complete transactions. For example, getting a new SIM connection requires Aadhaar—service providers weren’t issuing SIMs without it, despite government guidelines for non-residents.

One Indian phone number is mandatory. Your Aadhaar should be linked to an active phone number. Most transactions require OTP verification sent to your Aadhaar-linked phone number. If this phone number isn’t working, you won’t be able to complete any transactions. Make sure your Aadhaar is linked to a working phone number that you can access.

Know the difference between NRO and NRE accounts. Ensure you convert all your existing bank accounts in India to NRO accounts. With an NRO account, you’ll be taxed at a flat 30% rate on all capital gains, but you can reclaim this when filing taxes. However, if you use a resident account to avoid taxes and the Income Tax department discovers this, you’ll face substantial penalties for all income earned in previous years. Please consult with a bank or an accountant in India for expert advice.

Even if you are not earning income in India, make sure you file taxes. If you have an NRO account and receive money in it, filing taxes will allow you to reclaim the withheld amount.

Indian medical expenses have skyrocketed. Having cashless mediclaim insurance is essential. The reimbursement process becomes particularly cumbersome during short visits to India.

For your bank accounts, LIC, and other financial institutions, ensure you add a nominee. This is very important. Without a nominee, it will take several months to release the funds. Also, during an unfortunate incident, having a WILL helps expedite processes. If you don’t have a WILL or nominee, you’ll need to wait 5-6 months to get the Legal heir certificate to continue transactions, which will likely require another trip to India.

Despite having a WILL in Canada, you may need a separate WILL written and registered (this is very important) in India. Even with only one heir, you cannot proceed with any transactions unless a Legal heir certificate is issued. Having a properly registered WILL in India can bypass all these hurdles within a couple of days.

Ensure you use the correct name for nominees, especially when expanding initials or using legal names. If there’s a mismatch between the nominee’s name and their bank account name, funds will not be released. You can resolve this by submitting a “One and the same” certificate from a village officer or gazetted officer.

Prepare an emergency preparedness kit. Document all essential details such as insurance information, important contacts, bank accounts, etc. for your family to access. Share this information with your close relatives as well. There have been cases where families weren’t aware of the deceased person’s investments, bank accounts, and insurance details, causing significant financial hardship.

Lot of important updates/changes in banks can be done only in home branch. Hence it is imperative to update/change your home branch to the one near your house. There are numerous people struggling when they have the home branch in Bangalore / Hyderabad which they opened when they were working years back.

It is good to have your digital locker set up. https://www.digilocker.gov.in/

You need to ensure KYC is updated in all your accounts, especially banks & other financial organization.

Whoever has the policies, bank accounts etc. opened well before Aadhar was launched, please make an action item to ensure your name is matching with the aadhar. There might be a chance of name mismatch because old documents might have initials, the aadhar/pan/bank accounts might have the expanded names.

Banks, insurance, investors etc. will make the process to invest money very easy. The moment you need it back, they stick on to a large process guide. So before you invest, know the exit procedure. I had faced hardship to release a fund from the bank which I had invested 15 years ago. Spent more than 3000 INR and 3 days on documentation before I got it back.

NRI’s are not eligible to start a new PPF account. If they have an existing one, they can continue until maturity. Once matured, you cannot renew.

Imagine your license is getting expired, you have 2 years to renew. 1 year before the expiry and 1 year after the expiry. Try to do this during your travel to India. If you are wondering why you need this. If you don’t do this and you go back to India to settle after 10 years, you will have to restart the process of license, starting from written test.

If you had old unused accounts with the banks, ensure you close it.