What's in a name?

What's in a name? Many of us must have come across this question in our lives. Last few months, most of us would have discovered that everything is in our name. If the names on our Aadhar and PAN do not match, they cannot be linked. Going back to the scenario, I discovered the pain when I was trying to open an account at SBI. Thanks to the lady at the counter, my PAN and Aadhar have the same name, and so does my passport. There are other IDs where I need to get my name rectified. Yet another battle I need to fight.

Last year, I visited a bank to move my investments from another bank as it was closing its operation in India. The branch head was a soft-spoken guy who understood my concerns and was ready to help me. He got all the papers signed and asked me to relax. "It's all taken care of," he said with a smile. As it was the last month of the financial year, he expected me to do some investments to meet his target. I had to politely decline his "investment" proposals as I was taken for a ride by the other bank. Within a week, I saw opt-out happening from the previous bank and the investments appearing under my new bank. I was elated. Little did I know that the bank mandate was still linked to the old bank, which is no longer operational in India.

As I am sitting trying to figure out how to sort out this current mess, I wonder why we have this issue in the first place. If an educated person is struggling, what about the uneducated ones? The answer is straightforward, someone somewhere is not doing his job honestly. If a person at work cannot copy the name from the proof submitted for ID generation properly, is he fit for the job? Why does a person selling insurance, mutual funds etc never insist on providing a nominee? In an era where we talk about climate change and planting more trees, why do some institutions still insist on paperwork?

That day is not far away when one cannot withdraw one's money from the bank as the name does not match the ID. As someone told me recently
"If you really think, it is a matter of just changing an entry in a simple database table." But for bureaucracy, "it's my way or the highway."