India: LGBTQ persons can open joint bank accounts, nominate beneficiaries

In a welcome news for the LGBTQ community in India, people in a queer relationship will no longer face any restriction on opening a joint bank account or nominating a person as a beneficiary to receive the money, the Finance Ministry said in a circular.

"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 a queer relationship as a nominee to receive the balance in the account in the event of the account holder," read an advisory that the ministry shared on August 28.

The ministry added that a clarification regarding the issue had also been issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to all scheduled commercial banks, earlier this month.

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 advisory by the ministry regarding the LGBTQ community was prompted by the Supreme Court order passed in October last year in the case of Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty vs Union Of India.

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Court's decision and subsequent centre's action

The apex court in its unanimous judgment held that there was no unqualified fundamental right to marry under the Constitution. However, the court said it was necessary to have anti-discrimination laws to safeguard the rights of LGBTQ individuals.

The court recommended considerations such as treating queer partners as part of the same family for ration cards and allowing them to visit their partnersin jail. The court also touched upon legal entitlements financial benefits and rights related to employment during the judgment.

Following the SC judgment, the central government in April, earlier this year, constituted a six-member committee, chaired by the cabinet secretary to examine the various issues relating to the queer community.

The expert-level panel examined measures that could be taken to ensure the queer community did not face any discrimination in access to goods and services, in addition to ensuring their safety from any sort of violence, harassment or coercion.

(With inputs from agencies)