Have you nominated for your Online Profile and Digital Assets?

Never Forget to Nominate 

After having worked for more than 35 years in Banking Industry, I know the importance of Nominations in Bank Accounts so that the balances in your saving account, fixed deposit account or articles kept in Lockers and Safe Custody are handed over to the nominated persons as per your mandate was given at the time of opening of account or even if it is changed by you thereafter.

When I started my blogging journey after my retirement from my banking service in April 2012, I developed a taste for blogging as I found this platform as a good media to share my knowledge with the public in general. I used to make profiles and forget the profile and password as well. This was a big problem to keep track of all your activities on the web through owned profiles. For any online shopping, comments to articles or publishing articles under your own authorship verified by Google. I used to think as to what will happen to my forgotten abandoned profiles. I tried searching on the internet but could not find any satisfactory reply. I used to read Google Help for long hours and on slightest doubt, I used to send my feedback. After learning ways and means to earn money online out and pursuing my hobby for writing and sharing my experience I did not find it difficult to get verified as an established Author subject to fulfilling the following criteria:

• Never hidden my real identity. Proved real identity to Google’s satisfaction through submission of ID, Address Proof and owning each and every word, sentence, paragraph or article created by me anywhere on the web. One can check track of all my activities on the web through my Google+ profile alone.
• Ultimately Google Adsense, keeping in view my clean record, approved me as a publisher for their one of the most popular and premium advertising media for its AdWords customers from across the globe.  I had to pass through stringiest quality control measures for such publishers and Google verified my Mobile Number, Landline Number and exact location of my work through Satellite and Google Maps.
• Finally Web Question Answers Rajpura found a place in Google Maps Business Listings.
• With continued working on the web, I set up Samadhan Kender in 2015 and finally settled for the professional online CIBIL consultancy website at CIBIL Consultants. Now the client base of CIBIL Consultants has risen up to more than 1000 within 3 months time and more and more clients are reaching us to Tell us their CIBIL Problems.

What is the purpose of writing this entire story?

I firmly believe that when you are reading this story, first of all, you need to be convinced that whatever has been communicated above is cent percent truth so that you can afford to continue with the very subject matter of the topic "You have Nominated for your Online Profile and Digital Assets or not" in the same manner as individuals nominate for their Bank Accounts, Insurance Policies, Demat Accounts, Will in case of properties, Provident Fund accounts as lacs of crores of rupees remain lying with Banks, Insurance Companies, EPF organizations, mutual funds, unclaimed dividend and fixed deposit with big corporate entities, due to unavailability of information about legal heirs. In the absence of nominations, I have seen the legal heirs going from pillar to post to claim the amounts belonging to deceased nears and dears and forefathers.

The above scene dates back to an era of manual keeping of accounts by the above organizations and now when the whole transition from manual account keeping to automated accounting system has taken place, the scene has changed altogether. Do you think that the manual records of unclaimed accounts could have been preserved by the organizations when there were no KYC guidelines in vogue? Inactive accounts are similar to unused articles lying dumped in the house and while selling the unused scrap no household will ever like to scan the dumped materials. In countries like India there is an urgent need of Central Regulatory Authority to deal with such unclaimed or inactive accounts and such assets should be treated as National Assets managed by Central Regulatory Authority of India to be named as Unclaimed Assets Regulatory Authority of India, which may invest these assets under framed laws for the authority so as to protect the interests of the claimants. These assets need not be allowed to remain with Banks, Insurance Companies, EPF organizations or corporate as these assets need to be protected against all market risks and may be utilized for national development instead of borrowing by Govt. of India at higher rates of interests.Acting on my feedback the Government of India has set up The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014 - under Section 26A of Banking Regulation Act, 1949

What are Digital Assets owned by inactive Online Profiles?

Coming to my online journey for establishing me as an approved GoogleAdsense Publisher and author at many publishing platforms likes HubPages and India’s top educational site like IndiaStudyChannel, the same question came to my mind that what for I am authoring the articles as in the past, when there were no eBooks or online publishing platforms, the authors used to author books and publishers used to publish their work and the royalty from such published works used to be shared by the publishers and authors. In the present online scenario when the publisher and the author is one and the same person, then during lifetime any income out of advertising gets shared amongst host sites and the publisher-cum-authors. If the sites are self-hosted then the whole earnings go to the publisher-cum-authors, who work as affiliates of top advertising media like Google Adsense, Amazon, Linkshare, Adsplay International and other hundreds of advertising networks working globally. To have a regular source of income authors-cum-publishers have to make their online profiles connected to their email accounts like Gmail, Facebook Twitter, Blogger, WordPress and other social networks which distribute the writings of such authors-cum-publishers. Though such networks do not share their income with such online publishers-cum-authors, yet they send traffic to the published work of such authors-cum-publishers and it is at the sole discretion of the author to provide a link to share his or her published knowledge articles on social networks.

Now the basic question in the topic attracted my attention as we often think about death, especially our own. We start making plans, wills, and nominations as it very important for the legal heirs, successors, we may leave behind. We do not worry much about liabilities as the successors inheriting assets is liable to extinguish the liabilities also, no doubt out of the assets inherited. What bothers the individual is the tangible, intangible or digital online assets. I wrote a detailed article about What to do with Inactive Accounts at HubPages - Futuristic Approach and sent the similar Feedback to Google the great in February 2013 to provide the facility of Nomination in their Gmail account settings. On my feedbacks in 2012 and 2013, the great Google has accepting Nominations in all Gmail accounts so as to have access to all Google Products of the Gmail Account holder. Facebook has also activated the facility of Nomination in Facebook Accounts in India also. If you have any questions, you may Ask Such Question at WQA and I will be very happy to respond to your valid questions.

In April 2013 the Google introduced Inactive Account Manager where the user has the option to activate the Inactive Account Manager so as to tell the Google as to what to do with Gmail messages and data related to other Google Products and services on account of inactivity in the account for any reason, whatsoever.

The user has the option to either get the data deleted say after a duration of inactivity in the account or to set up trusted contacts to receive data from some or all of the Google services like Blogger, Gmail, Google+ Profiles, Google+ Pages, and YouTube. It is just like making nominations in Google account settings and if the User had inserted his or her owned content in Contributor Links then the trusted contact will have the access to reactivate the contributions through password resets as passwords will be received in the inactive Gmail account accessible by the trusted contact. Google, before taking action on inactive accounts will send a text message to the verified and registered mobile of the user, whose account has gone inactive due to any reason including hospitalization, death, insanity or any reason whatsoever. What are you thinking now, activate the inactive account manager and set up trusted contacts?

Similarly acting upon my continuous follow-up, the Facebook started the concept of Legacy Accounts in India.

Can Biometric Authentication through Aadhar be Misused?

Lock Your Bio-metrics

"Can Bio-metric Authentication through Aadhar be Misused?" appears to be funny. If you ask me, I will tell U that till now, No two individuals can have same fingerprints or IRIS patterns and that's why many bio-metric systems are designed on the basis of unique IRIS patterns and Fingerprint patterns. But due to ongoing researches and modern technologies, there is every possibility that the IRIS and Fingerprint patterns could be clones and saved for future manipulations. As we already know that scientists have already cloned animals from the bone marrow of the existing animal. Cloned animals can have same iris, fingerprint patterns.

I would have never accepted this doubt or fear but when I visited the UIDAI website of Government of India, it provided the facility to Lock or Unlock the Bio-metrics to secure your Aadhar Authentication as per your need by locking or unlocking your bio-metrics. What does it mean? The common man will infer that during the period one's bio-metrics remain in open status then the same can be or could be manipulated.

The UIDAI started the Aadhar Bio-metric Locking System to lock and temporarily unlock the bio-metrics immediately before going through Aadhaar Based authentication process. UIDAI website further tells the residents that the facility is provided to Protect Privacy and Confidentiality of Residents Bio-metrics Data - which clearly implies that Bio-metric data can be misused or manipulated and it can be harmful as Aadhar authentication has been allowed as e-verification for many financial transactions.

What is the Impact of Locking Bio-metrics:

• The Individuals who lock their bio-metrics may not be able to use the authentication facility in case of dire need and therefore the UIDAI website cautions the Users of Locking System to use this facility with care to prevent denial of Authentication services.
• Locked Bio-metrics ensures the Aadhaar holder will not be able to use their Bio-metrics (fingerprints/iris) for authentications thus preventing potential misuse.

The UIDAI, by writing the words "Potential Misuses" has given a clear-cut signal that Bio-metrics can be manipulated and/or misused.

Moreover to avail the Locking/Unlocking Facility the individuals need to have Registered Mobile Number to avail the service of Locking and Locking. Without having registered Mobile Number, I fear no one will be able to draw the benefits of Aadhaar Based authentication. 

To the best of my knowledge, I have inferred that every Aadhaar Card holder desirous of using the Locking and/or Unlocking facility of bio-metrics must have the internet enabled mobile or smartphone on the go so that in case he or she wants to prove his or her identity through Aadhar based authentication, then he or she can unlock the bio-metrics for proving his or her identity anywhere anytime. Having an internet connection while on the go is a pre-requisite to avail the locking facility so that users can switch to open or locked status. Now it is a million dollars question if the Government of India can provide Free Internet Enabled Mobile Phones to at least those citizens who can not make both ends meet and are living below poverty line.

Have you ever earned from an online Hobby?

The title of the post may appear to be funny but it is true that you can earn through an online hobby. I am not talking about playing online rummy or online lottery games. It is all about your writing skills and common sense guided by an experienced blogger. As the curtain is going to fall on the year 2017 in just next 91 days when the hour and minute hands of the clock will overlap each other at midnight of 31st December 2017 to usher in New Year 2018 with bursting of crackers, twinkling lights and rockets going up in the sky, I thought it fit to write a post for the fresh and new bloggers who might be ready to join us in 2018 with an intention that they may earn through their online hobby of content writing and undertaking surveys. Most of the bloggers cheat and template the new bloggers by making them believe that they can earn thousands of $$ dollars through blogging and advertising either through AdSense or other advertising networks. But it is a mirage and distant dream as I was also lured by the so-called money making machines while sitting in the comfort of your bedroom. Frankly speaking, it is very very difficult to earn through online content writing as you need to market your content also. Hereby marketing I do not mean that you are to sell your online content through payment gateways. By the way, why the online audience should buy your content if they do not want to even read it. First of all, make your online content worth its value to be read by millions of people and that is possible only if you optimize your content to be displayed by major search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask. To start with your online hobby I would like to share my performance since 2012 by honestly telling you my income and expenditure details during 2012-2017 and my investment in terms of hours of work during 2012-2017 and now I have ended up setting us by big commercial enterprise at CIBIL Consultants where I am making thousands of dollars per month to be distributed to my team members:

Expenditure:

Domain Registrations and Renewals	29,287-00 *See Popular Domains Below
Hosting Plans and Renewals 2012-2022	44,913-00
Developer Console from Google	1,578-00
Google Application for Business	Free Courtesy Google Inc
Google Ad-words Advertising	2,482-00
Facebook Advertising	12,624-00
Other Miscl Expense	9,116-00
GlobalTestMarket
Total 2012-2017 (5 years)	1,00,000-00

*[My popular domains are www.webquestionanswers.com, www.moneymultiplierindia.com, www.mycloudlinks.com, www.expertreviewchannel.com, www.myeveryminutediary.com, www.xpertconsultants.in, www.samadhankender.com, www.cibilconsultants.in and matching domains]

Income:

Remuneration received from Global Test Market	12,356-00
Earning from IndiaStudyChannel where I have contributed More than 30 content articles	5,810-00
Income from Advertising through Google Adsense	19,288-00
Income from HubPages	1,988-00
Other Income from online Consultancy Hobby during 2012-2017	69,558-00
Total 2012-2017 (5 years)	1,09,000-00

Out of the total earned an income of Rs.9000-00, I have paid Rs.9000/- to the developer for helping me to make my upcoming Global Website, a successful venture. I plan to increase my earnings to Rs.50000/- in the year 2018 and not to pocket even a single pie as my online hobby keeps me busy and also meets with the internet expenditure to make it a "No Profit No Loss" venture.

The tricky, smart and experienced technocrat bloggers will put screenshots and images of cheques altered in Photoshop to make them look alike that they earned thousands of $$ dollars from AdSense or online content whereas Adsense clearly bans the publishing of AdSense accounts and sharing these accounts on the web. It is just to lure you to click their ads or advertisements just to find that the smart advertiser will ask for money in US $$ dollars to let you know the secret of earning thousands of dollars $$ online in the comfort of your bedroom. But I have published my balance sheet in the most transparent way so that you can also Learn to Earn, Online or Offline by Ethical Means.

What are Benefits of Pre Mature Voluntarily Retirement?

In the year 2000, the Special VRS scheme was introduced in the banking industry and was made very attractive and lucrative. The bank employees opted for the VRS without applying any mind or without calculating the Breakeven point to arrive at an age which will be best suitable for taking the VRS. At that time interest rates on deposits were at the rate of 12% per annum and the VRS optees got a 1% staff rate extra. The VRS optees never imagined that interest rates on deposits will get reduced to a low of 8 to 8.50 % and that depreciating rupees will erode the purchasing power of the VRS amount encashed by the VRS optees. [The Rate of Interest has been further reduced to a mere 6.25 % as on October 2017 when this article is being updated by the author] At that time I calculated that if one had remaining service of 5 to 6 years then it may sound feasible to opt for VRS in 2000 when extra emoluments in lieu of the remaining service were being offered. Anyhow the VRS 2000 was a one-time option and after that, the VRS optees were deprived of extra emoluments in lieu of remaining service. Had the IBA and the Banks kept the VRS open even after 2000 to date then I am sure that the whole banking industry would have undergone change with new and young faces replacing the old and senior bankers.

Due to certain personal circumstances, I had to opt for VRS in the year 2012 without expecting any extra emoluments for my remaining service of around 60 months. But before opting for Voluntary Retirement I made my own calculations so that I had not had to repent afterwards. Though I am not in favour of early voluntary retirement and remaining active till the date of superannuation at the age of 58 or 60, I want to share the few benefits of the early VRS (say 5 years before the date of superannuation and after completing service of more than 30 years) for those members who might be planning for their retired life:

1. The gratuity of Rs.Ten lac [which is now enhanced from Rs.10 lacs to Rs. Twenty Lacs now in 2017] which was payable on superannuation will be encashed by the retiree 5 years in advance as there will be no change in gratuity due to a ceiling amount of Rs.10 lac and if we calculate the future value of Rs.10 lac (received prematurely) as on date of superannuation it will work out to Rs.16 lac approx if invested in the Bank FD at the rate of 10% inclusive of staff rate. The visible undisputed benefit of Rs.6 Lacs [Loss of Rs.4 Lac for those who are eligible to get a Gratuity of Rs.20 Lac].
2. If VRS is taken early then the commutation factor is higher and the retiree gets a higher commutation pension value. Now check the future value of the total commuted value of the pension by adding compounded interest at the rate of 10% (compounded quarterly) for the remaining number of years of service and deduct from it the actual commuted pension payable at the age of 60 or 58 years. The difference is a clean profit for getting retirement at an early age.
3. If VRS is taken 3-5 years in advance the individual can also look after the family affairs especially marriages and settlements of children. An individual can also look forward to an alternative at a younger age, keeping in view the average age of bankers, as per the latest study report, is estimated at 65 years.
4. As the Pension amount is very less as compared to Salary, the incidence of Income Tax will also reduce from 30% or 20% to 20% or 10%.
5. [I think the cumulative effect of items at Serial Number 1, 2 and 3 will be almost "No Profit No Loss in the current scenario when the Gratuity is increased to Rs.20 Lacs.]
6. Now you will laugh at my calculations. The commuted basic pay gets restored after 15 years and if you took the normal retirement it would have been restored at the age of 75 whereas longevity of life is reduced due to the ageing process. But in case you took the VRS at the age of 55 then your full pension will get restored 5 years in advance at the age of 70 and as per the latest study report, the average age of bankers is estimated at 65 years. Now hypothetically invest the increased amount of pension on account of the restoration of the full amount into a Recurring Deposit account for 5 years and you will be richer by the amount of maturity value of this recurring deposit.
7. Due to early retirement, your monthly pension will be much less than the monthly salary on which you might be paying TDS salary ranging from Rs.4000 to Rs.7000 per month and this amount of loss of TDS will be to the Income Tax Department as your pension account will not attract TDS after normal investments U/s 80CC.
8. You might be having accumulated P.Leave or Earned Leave for a maximum period of 240 days and the bank never gives interest on this intangible asset but when you opt for VRS you have the opportunity to get it cashed similarly as you would have done on the date of superannuation. This means that you will be getting a Leave Encashment amount 5 years in advance making you richer by the interest in monetary terms getting added to the leave encashed amount 5 years in advance.  
9. Last but not least, by taking early retirement you can shout "Hello Pension, Bye Bye Tension" to plan for a tension-free retired life. Medical studies have revealed that the average age of a pensioner increases by 5 to 10 years as compared to that of any person in active service.

The above calculations are made on certain assumptions and one must check his or her conditions before opting for VRS. We provide free counselling to persons thinking to opt for VRS. What are you thinking now? To ask further questions on the issue you are welcome to Register at our Main Site where our Experts and Super Specialists are waiting to answer your questions free of cost.

This article was originally written in May 2012 by the author and it has been reviewed or updated in October 2017 for any material changes in assumptions.

How to catch hold of hidden camera in your bed or hotel room with smart phone?

SPY CAMERA

With the advancement of technology, there are more and more attacks on the privacy of individuals, couples, and organizations due to business rivalries. Now you can not be sure that your landlord, hotel manager, fashion designer or even your closest friend might have implanted hidden cameras in your bedroom, hotel rooms, trial rooms, changing rooms or even company's boardrooms. Imagine if hidden cameras are installed in bedrooms, hotel rooms, trial rooms, changing rooms without being noticed by you. What to do under such circumstances. You are left high and dry and you will like to have some gadget to detect such cameras within a fraction of seconds. To enable you to detect such hidden cameras I am writing this article for you and only for you so that you are not caught unaware.

How to detect such hidden cameras with your smart mobile phone?

1. If you happen to visit any of private places like toilets, bedrooms, hotel rooms, trial rooms or changing rooms then first of all just switch off all the lights to have complete darkness. Pull the curtains and ensure that you turn the room into a black room. It can be done easily at night hours. After turning the room into a dark room just launch you phone camera without turning on the flashlight. Roam about in the room with your cell phone especially pointed towards possible places of hidden cameras. If tiny Red or Green LED light is detected it implies that a hidden microphone or camera is installed in the room to spy on the visitors and strangers. If no LED light is detected then the room has passed the anti-spying test and you can be comfortable in the room without bothering that your privacy is being intruded into.
   
2. In the second step place a call on your phone and wave your smart or mobile phone here and there especially the doubtful places where hidden camera or microphone might have been installed cunningly. If you hear a clicking noise on your cell phone it confirms the presence of hidden camera or microphone as clicking noise will be due to the fact that your phone might be interfering with electromagnetic fields of high intensity as are used in hidden cameras and microphones. Sometimes due to the interference of fibre optic cable during signal transfer may interfere with your calls and you may not be able to make even calls from the room which also confirms the very presence of the hidden cameras.
3. Sometimes hidden cameras are installed behind the mirrors. To detect such hidden cameras launch the flashlight of your phone and shine it directly on the wall mounted mirror. Move the flashlight progressively near the mirror until it touches the mirror. If you can see through the mirror or notice light shining through it, you can be sure of a one-way mirror and possibly hidden camera behind it as a mirror should always reflect light and not allow the light to penetrate through it. 
4. Lastly with the flashlight of your smartphone carefully inspect the books, clocks, lamps, and water purifiers etc. and if you find any pinhole-sized holes then there is a possibility of a hidden camera pointed towards you. 
5. If you can afford the cost, which is not much more than the cost of your privacy, then you can buy hidden camera detectors which have the capability to detect the hidden cameras very intelligently.  Such hidden camera detectors are portable tiny sized instruments which are very small and easy to use. You are just to hold the tiny sized device very close to your eye as an expert watch repairer puts a magnifying glass on one of his or her eyes. Then just look around every hook and corner of the room. If there is any hidden camera you will be able to easily see the light reflections from the camera LED. Some detectors start vibrating on detecting a hidden camera or microphone. Others can alarm you through flashlights or beeping sounds when the area is swept by such detectors.

Have you read the T & C of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana?

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana

Our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Bhai Modi has launched the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana as a measure of providing social security and life cover to individuals between the age of 18 years to 50 years. The scheme has been launched with much fanfare to make it successful. The nationalized banks are making all-out efforts to make the scheme successful as it is the cheapest Life Insurance Cover for any individual. The Bank customers are not being provided any Insurance Policy individually as the issuing bank will manage the Master Policy for its customers. 

Neither the customers are aware of the "Terms and Conditions" nor the hidden clauses. To create awareness among the prospective buyers of PMJJBY I was prompted to write this article as I enquired about the "Terms and Conditions" of the very cheap and popular social security measure. Though I am not eligible under the scheme, having crossed the maximum age bar of 50 years, though I thought it my duty to share the "Terms and Conditions" with public audiences so that they do not feel cheated as is the case with such popular schemes. While taking the Life Cover under PMJJBY from your Bank, please keep the following things in mind:

1. Bank People may get your signatures in the prescribed form to debit the cost of insurance that is Rs.330-00 + Service Tax for life cover of Rs.2.00 lac. Before signing debit voucher please ensure that your bank balance does not go below the "Minimum Balance" prescribed by your bank lest you may feel cheated when subsequently minimum balance charges are debited to your account.
2. Please ensure that correct "Date of Birth" is incorporated in your Bank Records so that your nominees do not get into any difficulty if at a later stage it is found that you were not eligible under the scheme as per Clause which reads as "The savings bank account holder of the participating banks aged between 18 years (completed) and 50 years (age nearer birthday) and who have given the consent to join the scheme during the ‘enrollment period’ are eligible to join the scheme".
3. As per clause (5) of the scheme which reads "Satisfactory evidence of health as required by the Corporation shall be furnished by every eligible member, at the time of his entry into the Scheme, after the ‘ Enrollment Period’, as incorporated in the “Consent-cum-Declaration Form” for joining the scheme". As evidence of health is to be provided by the Saving Bank account holder - ask your bank as to who will bear the cost of - medical checkup if any to prove evidence of health lest the heavy cost may be debited to your saving account without your knowledge and you may feel cheated once again.
4. Clause (6) of the scheme reads as " Renewal premium is chargeable as per the rate decided from time to time on Annual Renewal dates". It clearly indicates that rate of Insurance Premium can be increased forcing you to opt out of the scheme. Ask your bank that there will be no change in Renewal Premium. Further Clause (19) which reads as "The rate of premium and conditions of Assurance under which the Corporation is prepared to arrange the Scheme shall be subject to an agreement between the Bank and the Corporation. The conditions of acceptance of risks and rates of premium may be amended by the Corporation from time to time on any Annual Renewal Date subject to 3 months notice being given to the Bank" also deprives the Bank customers of its right to argue.
5. Make Proper Nominations to receive the insured amount of Rs.2,00,000/- in case of any eventuality.
6. Please ensure that your bank account remains active and has sufficient balance on the renewal date lest the Life Risk gets suspended due to either insufficient balance or inactive account.
7. Clause (12) of the scheme stipulates that "The “Bank” or “Corporation” reserves the right to discontinue the Scheme at any time or to amend the Rules thereof on any Annual Renewal Date subject to giving one month’s notice. Any amendment to the Rules of the Scheme will be done based on mutual agreement between “Corporation” and “Bank”. This Clause reminds me of the Rajalakshmi Unit Scheme of UTI (RUS-92) in which the UTI in connivance with the then Government of India under the Finance Ministry of Ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cheated the minor girl child through legislation passed in a way determinantal to the interests of the beneficiaries of the RUS-92 scheme.

I also caution my fans, audiences, and the public, in general, to check the "Terms and Conditions of Insurance" as I am of the confirmed opinion that Insurance is no substitute to Social Security.

Is Legal Heir and Nominee are the Same?

I wonder how many of us are aware of this legal twist……... Read on

Will your Nominee get the money on your death?

Did you think that the nominee is the person, who will get all the money legally from your Life Insurance Policy and Mutual funds investments?

Yes! That is exactly what you think if you are not aware of the legal aspects.

We assume a lot of things that sound like they are obvious, but are not true from the legal point of view.

Today, we all concentrate on nominations in financial products.

1. For whom are we earning?
2. For whom are we investing?
3. Who, do we want to leave all our wealth to, in case something happens to us?

It might be your children, your spouse, parents, siblings, etc., or just a subset of these.  You also might want to exclude some people from your list of beneficiaries! So, you think you will nominate person X in your Insurance policy, and when you are dead and gone, all the money goes to person X and he/she becomes the sole owner? You are wrong, dude!

It does not work that way. Let us see how it actually does!

What is a Nominee?

According to law, a nominee is a trustee, not the owner of the assets. In other words, he is only a caretaker of your assets.

The nominee will only hold your money/asset as a trustee and will be legally bound to transfer it to the legal heirs.

For most investments, a legal heir is entitled to the deceased’s assets.

For instance, Section 39 of the Insurance Act says the appointed nominee will be paid, though he may not be the legal heir.

The nominee, in turn, is supposed to hold the proceeds in trust and the legal heir can claim the money.

A legal heir will be the one who is mentioned in the will.

However, if a will is not made, then the legal heirs of the assets are decided according to the succession laws, where the structure is predefined on who gets how much.

For example, if a man during his lifetime executes a will... In the will, he mentions his wife and children as legal heirs, then after his death, his wife and children are the legal owners of his assets.

It is essential that one needs to execute a will.

It is the ultimate source of truth and replaces the succession law.

The nominee can also be one of the legal heirs.

Important: Mention the Full Name, Address, age, and relationship to yourself of the nominee. Do not write the nomination in favor of the wife and children as a class. Give their specific names and particulars existing at that moment. If the nominee is a minor, appoint a person who is a major as an appointee giving his full name, age, address, and relationship to the nominee.

Why is the concept of a Nominee?

So, you might be wondering, if the nominee does not become the sole owner, why does such a concept of a nominee exist at all?

It is pretty simple. When you die, you want to make sure that the Insurance company, Mutual fund, or your Shares should at least get out of the companies and go to someone you trust, who can further help, in the process of passing it to your legal heirs.

Otherwise, if a person dies and has not nominated anyone, your legal heirs will have to go through the process of producing all kinds of certificates like death certificates, proof of relation, etc., not to mention that the whole process is really cumbersome! (For each legal entity! The insurance company, the mutual funds, the shares, for the real estate).

So, to simplify, if a nominee exists, these hassles do not happen, since the company is bound to transfer all your money or assets to the nominee.

The company then goes out of the scene & then, it is between the nominee and legal heirs.

Example of Nomination: Vijay was 58 years old and died recently in an accident. As his children were settled, he wanted to make sure that his wife is the sole owner of all the monetary assets. This includes his insurance policy and mutual funds. So, during his lifetime, he nominated his wife as a nominee in his term insurance policy and mutual funds investments. However, after Vijay’s death, things did not turn up the way he wanted. The reason being Vijay did not leave a will. Though his wife was the nominee in all his movable assets, as per the law, his wife, along with his children, were the legal heirs and all of them had an equal right to Vijjay’s assets.

One simple step which could have saved the situation was that Vijay should have made a will that clearly stated that only his wife was entitled to get all the money and not his children.

Nomination in Life Insurance: A policyholder can appoint multiple nominees and can also specify their shares in the policy proceeds. Nomination in life insurance has one limitation, as insurance policies are bought to secure your financial dependents, your first choice of the nominee has to be your family members. In case you want to nominate a non-family member like a friend or third party, you will have to show/PROVE to the insurance company that there is some insurable interest for the person. This happens because of a Clause called PRINCIPAL OF INSURABLE INTEREST in insurance. Note that the provision of nomination in life insurance is related to Section 39 of the Insurance Act.

Note that as per the LIC website:

The nomination is a right conferred on the holder of a Policy of Life Assurance on his own life to appoint a person/s to receive the policy money in the event of the policy becoming a claim by the assured’s death. The Nominee does not get any other benefit except to receive the policy money on the death of the Life Assured.

A nomination may be changed or canceled by the life assured whenever he likes without the consent of the Nominee.

Make sure, you have a nominee for your policy for easy settlement of the claim, if you do not have any nominee mentioned in the policy, it can turn out to be a disaster for your dependents to get a claim.

Nomination in Mutual Funds:

In the case of mutual funds, you can nominate up to three people, who can be registered at the time of purchasing the units. While filling in the application form, there is a provision to fill in the nomination details.

Even a minor can be a nominee, provided the guardian is specified in the nomination form. You can also change nominations later by filling up a form that is available on the mutual fund company website. Nomination in mutual funds is at the folio level and all units in the folio will be transferred to the nominee(s). If an investor makes a further investment in the same folio, the nomination is applicable to the new units also.

A non-resident Indian can be a nominee, subject to the exchange control regulations in force from time to time.

Nomination in Shares:

Quiz for you: Now you know what a Nominee means and who actually gets the money. So, if there is a husband H, with wife W and nephew N, and he has nominated his nephew N to be the nominee of his shares in the Demat account, who will have the legal right to own the shares after the husband’s death? If your answer is wife, you are wrong in this case!

In the case of stocks, it does not work the usual way, if a will does not exist.

In the verdict, Justice Roshan Dalvi struck down a petition filed by Harsha Nitin Kokate, who was seeking permission to sell some shares held by her late husband.

The Court noted that as she was not the nominee, she had no ownership rights over the shares. Ms. Kokate’s lawyer had argued that as she was the heir of her husband who had died intestate (without a will), she should have ownership rights of the shares, and be able to do anything with them as she wished.

In this case, Ms. Kokate’s husband had nominated his nephew in favor of the shares. Justice Dalvi, however, noted that under the provisions of the Companies Act and the Depositories Act, Acts which govern the transfer of shares, the role of a nominee was different.

A reading of Section 109(A) of the Companies Act and 9.11 of the Depositories Act makes it abundantly clear that the intent of the nomination is to vest the property in the shares which include the ownership rights thereunder in the nominee upon nomination validly made as per the procedure prescribed, as has been done in this case.

It means that if you have not written a will, anyone who has been nominated by you for your shares will be the ultimate owner of those stocks... The succession laws on inheritance will not be applicable... but, in case, you have made a will, that will be the source of truth.

Nomination in PPF:

Let me give you some shock first. If you have Rs 10 lakh in your public provident fund (PPF) account and you have not nominated anyone for your PPF account, your legal heirs will get a maximum of Rs 1 lakh only!

Yes, it is so important to have a nominee, now you get it.

You can nominate one or more persons as nominees in PPF. Form F can be used to change or cancel a nomination for PPF. Also, note that you cannot nominate anyone if you open an account for a minor.

Nomination in Saving/Current/FD/RD Account in Banks:

FDs also comes with a nomination facility. While opening a new account, there is a column for nomination in the same form and you should fill it out. You can nominate two persons with the first and second options. Note that in case you have not done any nominations till now, you should request Form No DA-1 from your Bank which is used to assign a nominee in the future. (Examples of Banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Canara Bank).

In the same way, to change/cancel the nomination, you need to fill up Form no DA-2.

Read about Corporate Fixed Deposits:

As per a famous case, A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha in an order said that the money lying deposited in the account of the original depositor should be distributed among the claimants in accordance with the Succession Act of the respective community and the nominee cannot claim any absolute right over it.

Section 45ZA (2) (Banking Regulation Act) merely put the nominee in the shoes of the depositor after his death and clothed him with the exclusive right to receive the money lying in the account. It gives him all the rights of the depositors so far as the depositors' account is concerned. But, it by no stretch of the imagination makes the nominee the owner of the money lying in the account, the Bench observed.

CONCLUSION:

The nomination is one important aspect you should seriously consider when checking for the financial products you have bought or plan to buy in the future. It’s important to make sure that your loved ones do not face legal issues.

Fading Memories of NBI Merger with PNB on 4th September 1993

I remember the day when I was the Incumbent of a Scale III Branch [ Chamber Road Moga in Punjab]. I joined that Branch as Incumbent on 06-07-1993 and the Branch was totally in Mess as the Ledger Balance had not been tallied since 1984. I was working day and night to streamline the working of the branch by taking the help of loyal employees of the erstwhile NBI. The News broke down on 03-09-2021 and advised my Team to recover all Clean Overdrafts due to the untallying of Balances as I was sure that PNB Management will not spare the erring officials. I kept the Cash Book in open stage till late night on 03-09-1993 to set the things right as a matter of Last Resort. As expected on 04-09-1993 - Shambu Datt Sharma [ Dy Regional Manager of PNB - who was Scale III official]  joined the Branch as Branch Incumbent and took over the incumbent Seat without any courteous behaviour and I had to sit in front of him as if I was a "Prisoner of War".  As I am a very hard working person - I, without having any grudge against the behaviour of the New Incumbent, I tried to help him in every possible way to take control of the branch as I was still struggling to have control of the branch - which I joined on 06-07-1993. After 2-3 days - Sr Inspector Karnail Singh joined to report Flash Report on the Branch. He was very impressed by my work and reported the things as it is reported by me - fully relying upon me and having full faith and confidence in my competence. But I can not forget the rude behaviour of the New Incumbent. After about one month the New Incumbent realised that he can not run the branch without a Second Man like me as I was a ScaleII Manager at that time and New Bank Management handed over the Incumbency of Scale III Branch to me in July  1993 due to my capacity and competence to bring about improvements. Late Shri C.L. Mahajan, the then Chief Manager at PNB Rajpura Main knew me in person and requested the then Zonal Manager S.K.Gupta at PNB FerozeGandhi Ludhiana to post me at his branch Rajpura which was my Native Home Town. His recommendation and request were accepted and I joined the CMO Rajpura of PNB on 18-10-1993. The merger came out to be Blessing in Disguise from me as NBI had posted me at Moga on 06-07-1993 on my Promotion as Scale II from erstwhile NBI Rajpura Town branch. I enjoyed working at PNB Rajpura as Late Sh.C.L.Mahajan [ then CM at PNB Rajpura who got promoted as Regional Manager Jallandhar on 08-10-1993] and Shri S.S. Arora [ Retd GM PNB ] the Senior Manager remained Officiating Chief Manager and PNB Rajpura Main. I enjoyed working with both Late Shri CL Mahajan and Sh. Surinder Singh Ji Arora who had put heir full confidence in me and my capabilities. I can not forget my association with these two Great Personalities.