How to Complete a KYC Application: Documents and Process

RBI’s KYC Master Direction recognises a closed list of documents as OVDs for identity and address proof:

• •Aadhaar, including e-Aadhaar and m-Aadhaar
• •Passport
• •Voter's Identity Card (EPIC)
• •Driving Licence
• •NREGA job card, with state-government attestation
• •A letter issued by the National Population Register, containing name and address

[1]

For how Aadhaar itself gets checked as part of this process, see Aadhaar Verification: What It Is and How to Verify an Aadhaar Number.

Not every government-issued ID counts. HyperVerge’s explainer of the framework notes that “any government ID” doesn’t automatically qualify as an OVD: only documents on RBI’s specific list do. A college ID, for example, is government-issued but is not an OVD.[2]

If Your OVD Doesn’t Show Your Current Address

Where your primary OVD doesn’t carry your current address, RBI’s framework allows substitution with “deemed OVD” documents:

• •Utility bills (electricity, gas, or telephone), not more than two months old
• •A property or municipal tax receipt
• •A bank or post-office account statement
• •A Pension Payment Order (PPO)
• •An employer's accommodation-allotment letter

[3]

Beyond the OVD, you also need to submit your Permanent Account Number (PAN), or the equivalent e-document, or Form No. 60 as defined under the Income-tax Rules, 1962, as part of customer due diligence.[4] Quoting PAN is itself a requirement under the Income Tax Act for opening a bank account; RBI’s KYC framework directs banks to obtain PAN or accept Form 60 in its place.[5]

If you have neither an Aadhaar (or Aadhaar enrolment) number nor a PAN and still want to open an account, banks are required to open a “small account” instead. That’s a limited-KYC account, and it can only be opened at branches linked to the bank’s core banking solution, or where the branch can manually monitor the account to ensure foreign remittances aren’t credited to it.[6]

A first-time customer generally has two submission-channel choices.[20]

*Industry-reported estimates from a consumer-finance aggregator, not an RBI-mandated timeline. Exact timing varies by institution.[21][20]

For the regulatory distinction between eKYC and Digital KYC, including how Aadhaar OTP and biometric e-KYC modes work, see What Is eKYC? How Digital KYC Verification Works in India. That piece is the place to go for “aadhaar e kyc online” as a definitional question; here it’s just one path within the online channel above.

Once you submit your documents, the regulated entity’s typical process runs in this order.[22]

RBI’s framework classifies customers into risk categories and sets a periodic KYC-update schedule accordingly:

[7]

Under RBI’s 2025 amendment, low-risk customers whose periodic KYC is due get an extended window to complete it: one year from their KYC due date, or 30 June 2026, whichever is later. During this grace period the account stays under regular monitoring rather than being restricted.[8]

If Nothing About You Has Changed

Per RBI’s periodic-KYC-updation circular, referenced via its January 2023 instructions, if there’s no change in your KYC details, a self-declaration to that effect is enough to complete your periodic KYC update; no fresh documents required.[11]

Banks must offer this self-declaration route through non-face-to-face channels: registered email ID, registered mobile number, ATMs, digital channels (online or mobile banking), or letter, without requiring a branch visit.[12]

If Only Your Address Has Changed

Furnish the updated address through the same non-face-to-face channels listed above; the bank then verifies the declared address within two months.[13]

Before an Account Gets Restricted for Pending KYC

Under RBI’s 2025 amendment, banks must send at least three advance notifications, including at least one physical letter, before restricting an account for pending periodic KYC non-compliance.[14]Whether banks are authorised to restrict an account for pending periodic KYC in the first place is itself a live legal question, not a settled point; if you’re facing an actual restriction, get independent legal advice rather than relying on this summary of the notice requirement.

Business Correspondents and Dormant Accounts

Business Correspondents (BCs) are formally authorised to facilitate KYC updates through customer self-declaration and biometric e-KYC authentication. Inoperative or dormant accounts can be reactivated at any branch through V-CIP, or through an authorised BC.[15]

Across Banks and Financial Institutions: CKYC

The Central KYC Registry (CKYC) is a centralised repository, maintained by CERSAI (Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India), that holds a customer’s KYC records so they can be reused across participating financial institutions instead of repeating KYC at each one. On registration, the customer receives a 14-digit KYC Identification Number (KIN).[16] CKYC has been effective since 1 February 2017.[17]

For what CKYCRR stands for and how CERSAI operates the underlying registry, see CKYCRR Full Form: What It Means and Why It Matters in KYC.

For Mutual Funds and Securities: KRA

To check KYC status for participating in India’s securities market (mutual funds, for example), use a SEBI-registered KYC Registration Agency (KRA), such as CVL KRA, NSE KRA, or CAMS KRA, by entering your PAN. The result returns as one of four states: Verified, Pending, On Hold, or Rejected.[18] Once your KYC is verified through a KRA, you don’t need to repeat the process to invest with a different mutual fund house: the verification is shared across the KRA system.[19]

The channel comparison above points to a practical decision rule rather than a single right answer. Use the online channel, document upload plus a V-CIP call, when speed matters and you can complete a live video verification: it’s reported to complete in 24–48 hours against roughly a week for branch-submitted KYC.[20][21] Use the branch route when handing over physical documents directly works better for you than a video call, or when the online setup isn’t available. The completion-time gap is an industry-reported estimate rather than a guarantee, so treat it as a planning input, not a fixed timeline.[21]

Two of the rules covered above also change what “KYC application” means once you’re already a KYC-verified customer, not a first-time one. Once your KYC record already exists in CKYC or has been verified through a KRA, it doesn’t need to be rebuilt from scratch: CKYC lets a participating institution retrieve your existing on-file KYC instead of collecting fresh documents, and a KRA-verified status carries across mutual fund houses without a repeat check.[16][19] At periodic re-KYC, a self-declaration closes the loop when nothing has changed, with no fresh documents required.[11] Read together, this suggests the full document-submission process described above in this piece is mainly a first-time, or changed-information, event: for a repeat or already-verified customer, most of what follows is a data-reuse or confirmation step rather than a new application. The same logic extends across institutions, not just within one: CKYC carries a customer’s on-file KYC to a new regulated entity,[16] and a KRA-verified status carries across mutual fund houses without a repeat check.[19]