New Delhi: Members of the LGBT community are eligible to open a joint bank account and name their partner as a nominee in the event of their death, according to an order issued by the Department of financial services under the Finance Ministry. On August 21, the Reserve Bank of India issued a similar clarification.
Advisory regarding opening joint bank account and nomination thereof by persons of Queer community.#DFS_India pic.twitter.com/rf1ngKsPEa
— DFS (@DFS_India) August 29, 2024
The finance ministry clarification coted the Supreme Court judgment is Supriya Chakraborty and another vs Union of India, 2023. While the five judge bench unanimously agreed that the right to marriage was not absolute, they ruled that indirect discrimination related to marital status in respect to entitlement and compensation should be addressed by the Centre.
The judgment also enables partners to be treated as a family for the purpose of a ration card. The Supreme Court also ruled that in case of an advance directive not being executed by a queer person, their partner may be considered family.
Bank campaigns for queer community
Axis Bank launched the #DilSeOpen Campaign for members of the LGBTQ community allowing queer customers to open a joint savings bank account or term deposit with their partner. The accountholders may use the title Mx for gender non-binary and gender fluid persons as well as transgender persons in their account. Under this scheme, LGBTQ members may choose same-sex partners as their nominees for savings and term deposit accounts.
However, Axis Bank faced a social media backlash after a same-sex couple approached the bank to open a joint account in 2021 since executives stated that joint account may only be opened with a blood relative, displaying the gap between policies and on-ground representation. To be sure, the bank rectified this mistake and recalled the couple to open their joint bank account, Firstpost reported.
Despite there being legal backing for joint accounts and nominations for the LGBT community, implementation remains a challenge, according to multiple reports. Securing a home loan can also be challenging for LGBT community members with several members being told to consider naming their partners as friends or cousins instead of partners, Moneycontrol reported.
In a significant relief for members of the LGBT community, the finance ministry’s department of financial services has clarified that members of the queer community are free to open a joint account with their partners. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
