title: India cenbank says linking national ID number to bank accounts mandatory
text: MUMBAI (Reuters) - India s central bank on Saturday dismissed media reports that it was not necessary to link national identity card numbers, known as Aadhar numbers, to bank accounts. It said in a statement the requirement remained in force under anti-money laundering rules.  The Reserve Bank clarifies that, in applicable cases, linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017,  it said in a statement. The RBI also said that anti-money laundering rules announced in June 2017 have  statutory force  and banks have to implement them without awaiting further instructions. The Aadhar program, which is the world s largest biometric identity card program, has triggered some claims that it is an infringement of privacy of citizens. India s top court in August had said that privacy is a fundamental right and the verdict was expected to complicate efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi s government to make linking of the ID card numbers with bank accounts, telephone numbers, etc. 