The Ministry of Finﷺance on Thursday said there are no restrictions on persons belonging to the LGBTQ community to open a jo𝓀int bank account or make a queer person a nominee.
The clarification for Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgend♏er community (LGBT community) came 🐠in an advisory of the finance ministry dated August 28.
This is to clarify that there are no restrictions for persons of the queer community to open a joint bank account and also to nominate a person in the queer relationship as a nominee to receive the balance in the accountꦫ in the event of the account holder, the finance ministry said in the advisory.
The advisory comes in view of a Supreme Court order of October 17 last year in the case of Supriyo@Supriya Chakraborty and another vs Union ✨of India (Writ Petition Civil No. 1011/2022).
Following the Supreme Court judgment dated October 17, 2023, the Centre in April 2024 constituted a six-member committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary to examine the various issues relating to the q💙ueer community.
The six-member panel was asked to examine measures that can be taken to ensure there is no discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in access to goods and services and measures that can be taken to ensure that the LGBTQ+ community does not face any threat of violence, haraღssment or coercion.
A clarification over bank accounts has been issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also to 🎀all the scheduled commercial banks on August 21, 2024, the advisory by the Department of Financial Services under the finance ministry said.
In 2015, the RBI directed banks to include a separate column 'third gender' in all their forms and applic▨ations to help transgender persons open bank accounts and avail of related services.
Following the 20�♏�15 order, several banks launched services catering to transgender.
ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd, in 2022, launched a 'Rainbow Savings Account' meant for the transgender community, offering several features, including high 💙savings rates and advanced debit card facilities.
