Bank account suspended due to not updating KYC details? How to reactivate it (2024)

Banks are mandated by RBI to periodically update their customer’s KYC details and hence they conduct a re-KYC process. However, the frequency of the re-KYC process varies depending upon the category of the banking customer.

“Regulated Entities (RE) shall adopt a risk-based approach for periodic updation of KYC. However, periodic updation shall be carried out at least once every two years for high-risk customers, once every eight years for medium-risk customers, and once every ten years for low-risk customers from the date of opening of the account / last KYC updation,” said the RBI in a circular dated May 29, 2019, updated on May 4, 2023.

The above-mentioned RBI circular also said that if an existing bank’s customer does not give their PAN or Form 60 or any other equivalent document then the said RE such as banks will “cease operations in the account till the time the Permanent Account Number (PAN) or equivalent e-documents thereof or Form No. 60 is submitted by the customer. Provided that before temporarily ceasing operations for an account, the RE shall give the customer an accessible notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard.”

If your bank sends you an email requesting you to update the KYC details linked to your account, do it as a priority. Missing the deadline can lead to deactivation of your bank account.

If your bank account has been suspended due to a re-KYC compliance failure, you can re-activate it.

The process for activating one’s bank account in case of re-KYC failure is the same for every bank. However, the mechanism (net banking, mobile banking, SMS, email, etc.) is the only differentiating factor. Here are some examples of how the re-activation is done in a few banks.

Here we have taken a few well-known banks and stated the procedure of activating bank accounts deactivated due to not updating the KYC details.

How to re-activate your bank account if it was suspended due to re-KYC compliance failure:

Bank of Baroda (BoB):
According to the Bank of Baroda website, there are three ways their customers can finish their re-KYC process and reactivate their bank account.

• Branch visit: “Visit your home branch and submit the duly signed Re-KYC form & copy of valid KYC documents,” said Bank of Baroda on their website.
• Video call: Individual resident customers (other than minors) having an Aadhaar number and original PAN can undertake Video Re-KYC (Re-KYC online through Video Call),” said Bank of Baroda on their website.
• Email/Post/Courier: Bank of Baroda customers can also email, courier, post, etc. a duly signed self-declaration form in case of no change in KYC information/change of address only.

“Individual Resident (other than Minor) customers can also email their request for periodic updation of KYC (re-KYC) in case of no change in KYC information to [email protected] together with a scanned copy of the following documents: Duly filled & signed self-declaration form in prescribed format Copy of Officially Valid Document (OVD) & PAN,” said BoB on their website.

Kotak Mahindra Bank
Kotak Mahindra Bank customers can use their mobile banking app to complete their re-KYC process.

Firstly, login to Kotak mobile application. After login find a button called ‘service request’ down below. Click on that. A new page will open, it will have a button named ‘profile’, click that. Once clicked, a new page will open, and it will have many options. Among those options, a button will be there named ‘re-KYC. Click on that. After this, a new page will open. This will show your name, masked Aadhaar number, masked PAN, communication address, and two clickable buttons- occupation and annual household income. It will also have two selection buttons- ‘There is a change in my address’ and ‘There is no change in my address’.

If you select the ‘There is a change in my address’ option, then a new page will appear and it will show you two options. The first option is ‘update address using Aadhaar number and OTP- INSTANT’ and the second option is ‘update address by uploading Address Proof’.

If you select the option ‘there is no change in my address’, then you will get another two options i.e. update via Aadhaar OTP or update by uploading proof.

South Indian Bank (SIB):
“Customers of South Indian Bank can update KYC/ Re KYC either through SIB branches or through Digital Channels,” says Sivaraman K, General Manager & Head - Banking Operations Group, South Indian Bank.

Bank branch: Customer can visit any of the nearest SIB branches and submit a signed re-KYC form, recent photograph, and KYC documents like PAN or Form 60, or any one of the Officially Valid Documents like (Aadhaar Copy, Passport, Voter’s ID, Driving License etc.).

Digital channels: “If a SIB customer wants to do their re-KYC process without any KYC documents, then it can only be done if the below-mentioned criteria are met:

• Customers must have a valid PAN, CKYC ID, and unexpired OVD (not expiring in the next 120 days).
• Either the customer's KYC review date is expired or is expiring in the next 120 days.
• In the case of NRI customers, a valid Passport, VISA/OCI/PIO, and FATCA are required.

The email address dedicated to SIB customers’ re-KYC is [email protected].

“For the above-said cases, customers need not upload any documents and can confirm the KYC details through SMS/ Email reply or by OTP Validation in case of website module. SMS/ Email will be sent to the customer 120, 90, 60, and 30 days before the KYC review expiry date and 1st day of every month after expiry till the re-KYC process of the customer is completed,” says Sivaraman K.

If an SIB customer wants to update their KYC details by uploading their documents, then it can either be done through the SIB website or the SIB mobile/net banking application/utility respectively.

Customers of other banks can check their respective bank's website or visit the nearest branch to reactivate their bank accounts.

"If a bank account is suspended on account of re-KYC, an individual may not be able to do any debit transactions in his account like withdrawing money, cheque transactions, etc. Further their cards and UPI will also be blocked, and their Standing Instructions (SI), etc will also not happen. However all credit transactions would be possible like salary will be credited, inward RTGS/NEFT transactions will also be credited etc," says Sivaraman K from South Indian Bank.