In a significant step towards inclusivity, the Finance Ministry announced  that there are no restrictions preventing individuals from the LGBTQ community from opening a joint bank account or nominating their partners in a queer relationship as nominees.

The Finance Ministry, in an advisory dated August 28, clarified that individuals from the queer community can freely open joint bank accounts and nominate their partners in a queer relationship to receive the account balance without any restrictions.

The advisory for the LGBTQ community from the Finance Ministry follows the Supreme Court’s order dated October 17, 2023, in the case of Supriyo@Supriya Chakraborty and another vs. Union of India (Writ Petition Civil No. 1011/2022).

A clarification in this regard has also been issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to all the scheduled commercial banks on August 21, 2024, the advisory by the Department of Financial Services under the finance ministry said. The RBI, in 2015, directed banks to include a separate column ‘third gender’ in all their forms and applications to help transgender persons open bank accounts and avail of related services. 

Following the 2015 order, several banks launched services catering to transgender. ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd, in 2022, launched a ‘Rainbow Savings Account’ exclusively for the transgender community, offering a host of features, including high savings rates and advanced debit card facilities.

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 queer community. The panel was tasked 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, harassment or coercion. (With PTI Inputs)