Video KYC rejected? What the RBI rules let you do

Almost every failed video KYC call has a mechanical cause, not a mysterious one, and most of them you can fix yourself in ten minutes. Work down the list below, find your symptom, apply the fix, and book a fresh slot the same day.

The rule that decides everything else. Paragraph 26 of the current RBI Directions says “The bank may undertake V-CIP”. May, not shall. But paragraph 44 adds that “If the bank has introduced the process of V-CIP, it shall provide the same as the first option to the customer for remote onboarding.” Quote that if your bank advertises video KYC and then pushes you to a branch.

First, check you are reading the right rulebook

Most guidance online still cites the 2016 Master Direction on Know Your Customer. For commercial banks that instrument is gone. The governing text, quoted throughout here, is the Reserve Bank of India, Commercial Banks - Know Your Customer, Directions, 2025, numbered RBI/DOR/2025-26/169, dated 28 November 2025 and carrying “Updated as on December 29, 2025” on the RBI site. Paragraph 80 says “the existing Directions, instructions, and guidelines relating to Know Your Customer as applicable to Commercial Banks stand repealed”, part of a consolidation that withdrew 9,445 circulars into 244 Master Directions. Parallel 2025 Directions cover NBFCs, small finance banks, payments banks and co-operative banks.

V-CIP means Video based Customer Identification Process. The Directions call it a “seamless, secure, live, informed-consent based audio-visual interaction” and rank it “on par with face-to-face CIP”.

The nine causes, and the fix under each

  1. A VPN, a proxy or an overseas connection. Paragraph 27 requires the application to be “capable of preventing connection from IP addresses outside India or from spoofed IP addresses”. *Fix:* switch the VPN off, use Indian mobile data.
  2. Location permission off or approximate. The recording “shall contain the live GPS co-ordinates (geo-tagging) of the customer undertaking the V-CIP and date and time stamp”. *Fix:* grant precise location, sit near a window.
  3. Video that could not identify you. The bar is “adequate to allow identification of the customer beyond doubt”. *Fix:* even light on your face, no window behind you, no cap, mask or glare on spectacles.
  4. Someone in the room helping you. Fatal by design: “The bank shall reject the account opening process if it observes any prompting at the customer end.” *Fix:* sit alone, television off.
  5. The call dropped. A pause “may not result in creation of multiple video files”, but “in case of call drop / disconnection, fresh session shall be initiated”. *Fix:* expect a restart, not a resume.
  6. You froze when the questions changed. The bank “shall vary the sequence and / or type of questions” to show the interaction is “real-time and not pre-recorded”. *Fix:* answer naturally. It is a liveness test, not a quiz.
  7. You held up a printout. “The use of printed copy of equivalent e-document, including an e-PAN is not valid for the V-CIP.” *Fix:* show the physical PAN card, or send the e-PAN digitally.
  8. A stale Aadhaar offline file. An Aadhaar XML file or Secure QR code must “not be older than three working days from the date of carrying out V-CIP”. *Fix:* regenerate it the same morning.
  9. The account opened but will not work. Not a rejection: “The bank shall make all accounts opened through V-CIP operational only after subjecting them to concurrent audit.” *Fix:* ask for the audit status in writing and start the grievance clock from that reply.

A tenth trap runs across all nine: your photograph and details must match across Aadhaar and PAN, so a middle name missing from one can end the call.

What the bank cannot demand from you

The 2025 Directions carry an Explanation that the old text did not.

Making specific facial gestures, like blinking of eyes, smiling, frowning, etc. is not mandatory for liveness check. The bank shall take due cognizance of special needs, if any, of the customer during liveness check.

Paragraph 27 adds: “The liveness check shall not result in exclusion of person with special needs.” An operator who failed you for not blinking on command has a compliance problem. Put both lines in your complaint word for word.

If V-CIP keeps failing, count what the fallback costs

Banks offer an Aadhaar OTP account instead. Paragraph 25 caps it hard, and those caps carried into the 2025 Directions unchanged. Aggregate deposit balance must not exceed ₹1,00,000, credits in a financial year must not exceed ₹2,00,000, and only term loans up to ₹60,000 a year may be sanctioned. The account cannot run beyond one year without full identification or V-CIP, failing which “the bank shall close the same immediately”.

Worked example. Arjun opens an OTP based account on 6 April 2026 and has his ₹42,000 salary credited to it.

  1. Credits 1 to 4, April to July 2026: ₹1,68,000 for the financial year.
  2. Credit 5 on 6 August 2026 takes the year to ₹2,10,000, past the ₹2,00,000 ceiling.
  3. His balance crosses ₹1,00,000 in month three, so the account stops operating even sooner.

The OTP account is a bridge of a few weeks, not a substitute, and 6 April 2027 is the outer deadline either way.

Demat or mutual fund? Different regulator, different word

Route by who rejected you, not by the product. If it was a SEBI registered intermediary such as a broker, depository participant or fund house, RBI's V-CIP paragraphs do not govern that call and the complaint goes to SEBI's SCORES platform. SEBI's Master Circular on Know Your Client norms for the securities market, SEBI/HO/MIRSD/SECFATF/P/CIR/2023/169 dated 12 October 2023, calls the same idea Video in Person Verification, and wants a “clear and still” video plus “random question and response from the investor”. If the entity that failed you is your bank itself, you are back on the bank grievance and RB-IOS 2026 route below. See mutual fund KYC rejected, or, if an existing account is the problem, the RBI KYC Directions and periodic updation.

Escalation: the bank first, then RB-IOS 2026

Write to the bank's grievance redressal officer. Name the paragraph breached, attach the app screenshot and the rejection SMS, and ask for the reason for rejection in writing. Then the Ombudsman. The Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2026 came into force on 1 July 2026 and replaces the 2021 scheme, which now governs only older complaints. It covers “deficiency in service”.

  1. Complain to the bank first. A complaint filed without that step is not maintainable.
  2. Wait 30 days for a reply, then file within 90 days of that deadline expiring or of the bank's last communication, whichever is later.
  3. It is free. The Ombudsman may award up to ₹30 lakh for consequential loss and a further ₹3 lakh for lost time, expenses and mental anguish.
  4. File at https://cms.rbi.org.in, email [email protected], or post to the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre, Reserve Bank of India, Central Vista, Sector 17, Chandigarh 160017. Helpline 14448.

Where RTI genuinely helps, and where it does not

RTI will not fetch your own video recording, and it does not reach a privately owned bank at all. It works upstream. RBI says so itself: “The Reserve Bank of India is a public authority as defined in the Right to Information Act, 2005.” The Supreme Court confirmed it in Reserve Bank of India versus Jayantilal N. Mistry on 16 December 2015, holding that RBI “is duty bound to comply with the provisions of the RTI Act and disclose the information sought by the respondents herein”.

A public sector bank is government owned and is a public authority under section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. Ask its CPIO for the board approved V-CIP standard operating procedure that paragraph 27 requires, and for the count of V-CIP rejections in a period. Draft it with the AI RTI Drafter, escalate an evasive reply with the First Appeal Builder, and follow the ladder in The RTI Playbook.

Whatever route you take, do it tonight: turn off the VPN, grant precise location, regenerate the Aadhaar file, and rebook.

Frequently asked questions

Can a bank simply refuse to give me a video KYC call?

Yes. Paragraph 26 says the bank “may” undertake V-CIP, so it is never compelled to build the facility. But once it has, paragraph 44 requires it to offer V-CIP as the first option for remote onboarding. A bank that markets video KYC then sends you to a branch is ignoring that clause.

Why did the officer end the call when my brother spoke?

The rule leaves no discretion. The bank “shall reject the account opening process if it observes any prompting at the customer end”. Any voice feeding you answers, on camera or off, ends the session. Redo the call alone, door shut, television off.

My account shows as opened but I cannot deposit money. Is that a rejection?

No. Accounts opened through V-CIP become operational “only after subjecting them to concurrent audit”, a check that happens after your call. Ask the bank in writing for the audit status and a date. If no real reply comes in 30 days, the RB-IOS 2026 route opens.

Is a printout of my e-PAN acceptable on the video call?

No. The Directions say “the use of printed copy of equivalent e-document, including an e-PAN is not valid for the V-CIP”. Either display the physical PAN card for the official to capture, or supply the e-PAN digitally through the app.

The operator failed me for not blinking. Is that allowed?

No. The 2025 Directions carry an express Explanation that facial gestures such as blinking, smiling or frowning are “not mandatory for liveness check”, and that the bank must take due cognizance of special needs. Quote it with the date, time and reference number of the failed call.

Sources

*Last reviewed: 6 August 2026.*

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