The Maharashtra government on Thursday made e-KYC, or the Electronic Know Your Customer verification process, mandatory for beneficiaries of the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme in the state.

The scheme, launched in June 2024, provides a monthly transfer of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 whose families earn less than Rs 2.5 lakh a year.

KYC, or Know Your Customer, is a regulatory process that financial institutions use to verify the identity of their customers before allowing access to services like opening bank accounts, investing, or using digital wallets. Customers have to submit documents such as Aadhaar, PAN card, photograph and biometric data.

On Thursday, the Maharashtra government issued a resolution asking the beneficiaries of the scheme to complete their verification and authentication within two months.

If Aadhaar authentication is not done, the benefits under the scheme will be withheld, it said, adding that beneficiaries would have to carry out the e-KYC process compulsorily every year.

State Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said that an e-KYC facility had been made available on the web portal ladakibahin.maharashtra.gov.in for beneficiaries of the scheme.

“They are requested to complete the e-KYC process in the next two months,” she said on social media.

Tatkare added that the process would be useful to avail the benefits of other government schemes in the future.

The Ladki Bahin scheme is said to have played a key role in the Mahayuti alliance winning 230 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly in November.

The coalition comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The scheme has sparked controversy due to the strain it has placed on the state’s finances. Monthly scrutiny exercises have also flagged numerous instances of ineligible enrolments under the scheme.

The state government currently spends Rs 3,700 crore to disburse the benefits to 2.41 crore beneficiaries each month under the scheme, the Hindustan Times reported.

A recent review of the scheme by the state government also found that more than 14,000 men in Maharashtra allegedly received a monthly payout under the Ladki Bahin Yojana for 10 months, the Hindustan Times had reported in July.

The Women and Child Development Department said that 14,298 men had enrolled in the scheme by misrepresenting their identities. This had led to a loss of Rs 21.44 crore to the state exchequer, the newspaper reported.

Payments to their accounts have since been stopped.

Also read: ‘Election stunt’: Anger, confusion among Maharashtra women as Ladki Bahin payments falter

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