CKYC number explained: the 14-digit CKYC Identifier
A CKYC number is the 14-digit KYC Identification Number (KIN) that CERSAI , the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India, generates when your know your customer record is first filed with the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCRR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act framework. It uniquely identifies a single KYC record so any reporting entity, a bank, a mutual fund, an NBFC , an insurer or a stockbroker , can retrieve your verified KYC once you quote the number, instead of collecting your documents again.
The number is the operational core of the “do KYC once, use it everywhere” promise. Before the registry, every financial relationship demanded a fresh PAN copy, address proof and photograph. Since the live run began on 15 July 2016, a person who has a CKYC record carries a single portable identifier across the four regulated sectors that feed the registry: banking under the RBI, securities under SEBI , insurance under the IRDAI, and pensions under the PFRDA. This article explains what the 14 digits represent, who issues them and under what law, the six practical ways to retrieve your number, and the point that confuses most investors, that the CKYC number is not the same thing as the KRA KYC that a broking account also relies on.
Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by the WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes and is written independently. WebNotes operates a Zerodha account-opening referral programme, disclosed on the pages that carry the referral link; this guide does not carry it and earns no referral commission from the procedure described here.
What the CKYC number is
The CKYC number is a 14-digit numeric identifier tied to exactly one individual or entity in CERSAI’s central repository. CERSAI generates it the first time a reporting entity files your KYC record, then returns it to that entity, which passes it to you by SMS and email on your registered mobile number and email ID. As of 25 April 2024, the registry held KYC records of crores of clients across banking, insurance, securities and pensions, all keyed by these 14-digit numbers (Joint Press Release by all KRAs, 25 April 2024, on the parallel KRA exercise; CERSAI operating guidelines, 2016).
Generation is not instant. Once your documents are uploaded, CERSAI typically issues the number within 2 to 7 working days of the filing, after the registry de-duplicates the record against existing entries so that one person does not end up with two KINs. This de-duplication is why the number, once issued, is meant to last a lifetime: subsequent updates amend the record behind the same KIN rather than minting a new one.
The number carries no public personal data on its face. It points to a stored record, the digitally maintained KYC template (identity, address, photograph and the supporting officially valid document) that CERSAI safeguards and releases only to a reporting entity that has your consent and quotes the number.
The account-type prefix
CKYC records are classified by the strength of the KYC performed, and that classification is reflected in the identifier issued under CERSAI’s operating guidelines. A normal account, opened with full KYC against an officially valid document, carries the standard numeric KIN. A “Small Account”, opened with limited documentation and capped transaction limits, is flagged differently, as is a Simplified Measures account and an Aadhaar OTP-based eKYC account. The practical reading for an investor is simple: a securities-market account requires full KYC, so a broking or mutual fund relationship will sit on a normal-category record, not a small-account one. Treat the precise prefix scheme as CERSAI’s internal classification rather than something you need to decode; what matters is that full KYC was done.
Who issues it, and under what law
CERSAI issues every CKYC number. CERSAI was originally set up under Section 20 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, to register security interests. The Central Government then authorised it to also act as the Central KYC Records Registry through Gazette notification No. S.O. 3183(E) dated 26 November 2015, issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005.
The filing obligation that produces the number sits in Rule 9A of those PML Rules: every reporting entity must file the electronic copy of a client’s KYC record with the CKYCRR, and within a defined window of opening the account. CERSAI finalised the individual KYC template and the operating guidelines, and the live run of the registry began on 15 July 2016 in phases, starting with new individual accounts opened on or after 1 August 2016. The registry serves reporting entities regulated by the RBI, SEBI, the IRDAI and the PFRDA, which is what makes a CKYC number portable across a bank, a broker, an insurer and a pension provider in a way that a sector-specific KYC is not.
How to find your CKYC number
There is no single open lookup where any member of the public can type a PAN and read back any person’s KIN, by design, because the record is protected. There are, instead, several routes that let the owner of a record retrieve their own number.
Your original SMS or email. When the record was first filed, the institution that filed it sent you the 14-digit number on your registered mobile and email. The welcome message, the e-KYC confirmation or the account-opening intimation from a bank or mutual fund often carries it.
The CKYC portal, ckycindia.in. CERSAI’s portal at ckycindia.in offers a “Fetch CKYC card” search. You verify your mobile number, supply identifying details such as PAN, and retrieve the card carrying the number.
DigiLocker. Your CKYC card can be fetched directly in the DigiLocker app once the issuer has made it available, alongside your Aadhaar and PAN.
A missed-call service. CERSAI’s missed-call line returns a link to your CKYC card by SMS after it matches your registered mobile number.
Net banking or a financial-services app. Log in to the bank or institution where you completed KYC and look under a “Profile”, “CKYC Details” or “e-KYC” section.
Ask the institution directly. Your bank branch, broker support desk, or mutual fund registrar and transfer agent such as CAMS or KFin Technologies can retrieve it for you after verifying your identity.
For a Zerodha client specifically, the number is available inside the account itself: log in to Console and open the Account section, where Zerodha surfaces the 14-digit identifier it holds against your KYC, or use the CERSAI portal route above.
CKYC number versus KRA KYC
This is the distinction that trips up most investors, because a broking account quietly uses both systems at once, and the two have similar names but different operators, different laws and different scope.
The CKYC number belongs to the Central KYC Records Registry, the cross-sector repository run by CERSAI under the PMLA. It spans banking, insurance, securities and pensions. Its identifier is the 14-digit KIN.
KRA KYC belongs to the securities market only. It is run by five SEBI-registered KYC Registration Agencies , CDSL Ventures (CVL KRA), NSDL Database Management (NDML KRA), CAMS, Karvy (KFin), and DotEx (NSE), under the SEBI (KYC Registration Agency) Regulations, 2011. When you open a demat account or a trading account , your broker uploads your KYC to a KRA, and the KRA assigns it a status such as KYC Validated or KYC Registered (see how to re-KYC a Zerodha account and Zerodha CKYC and re-KYC ).
The two systems are linked, not duplicated. SEBI has directed the KRAs to upload securities-market KYC information into the CKYCRR, so a securities KYC done through a KRA also feeds the central registry, and a CKYC record already created by your bank can seed the KYC a broker collects. But the identifiers and the statuses are not interchangeable. The CKYC number tells you the registry holds a record for you across all sectors. The KRA status (Validated, Registered or On Hold) tells you whether you can transact freely in the securities market specifically. You can hold a valid CKYC number and still be “KYC On Hold” at the KRA if, for example, your PAN and Aadhaar are not seeded.
| Attribute | CKYC number (CKYCRR) | KRA KYC |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | CERSAI | Five SEBI-registered KRAs |
| Governing law | PML (Maintenance of Records) Rules 2005, Rule 9A | SEBI (KYC Registration Agency) Regulations 2011 |
| Scope | Banking, insurance, securities, pensions | Securities market only |
| Identifier | 14-digit KIN | PAN-based record with a status flag |
| Live since | 15 July 2016 | 2011 |
| What it certifies | A KYC record exists centrally | Whether you can transact, and how widely |
Why it matters to an Indian investor
For a retail investor the CKYC number does three jobs. It removes the need to resubmit documents when you open a new financial relationship, provided your CKYC record is current. It gives you a single reference to quote when a bank, broker or AMC asks for your KYC particulars. And it anchors the trail that links your bank KYC, your mutual fund folios and your broking account to one identity, which is the de-duplication the PMLA framework is built around.
The practical caveat is that holding a CKYC number does not by itself mean your securities KYC is in order. If you are opening a broking account and the system says your KYC is “On Hold” or “Registered” rather than “Validated”, the fix lives at the KRA level (PAN-Aadhaar seeding, a fresh address proof, a mobile or email validation), not in the CKYC number, which may be perfectly valid throughout. Check both: the CKYC number on the CERSAI portal, and the KRA status on a KRA website .
See also
- Central KYC Records Registry
- CERSAI
- KYC Registration Agency
- KRA ecosystem
- Zerodha KRA
- Zerodha CKYC and re-KYC
- How to re-KYC a Zerodha account
- How to check your KYC status on Zerodha
- How to check KYC status on CAMS or KFin
- How to update KYC using DigiLocker
- KYC for mutual funds
- CKYC for mutual funds
- e-KYC with Aadhaar OTP
- Video KYC in India
- DigiLocker
- Aadhaar
- PAN-Aadhaar linking
- Zerodha
- Zerodha Console
- Demat account
- Trading account
- SEBI
- CAMS
- KFin Technologies
- Registrar and transfer agent
- Mutual funds in India
- Non-banking financial company
External references
- CERSAI Central KYC Records Registry portal (ckycindia.in)
- SEBI: Central KYC Registry Operating Guidelines, 2016
- Zerodha support: What is a CKYC number and how to find it?
- Department of Financial Services: PML (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005
- SEBI
References
- Prevention of Money-Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005, Rule 9A (filing of KYC records with the Central KYC Records Registry).
- Government of India, Gazette notification No. S.O. 3183(E) dated 26 November 2015 (authorising CERSAI as the Central KYC Records Registry under the PML Rules 2005).
- CERSAI, Central KYC Registry Operating Guidelines and individual KYC template, 2016 (live run from 15 July 2016; phased upload for accounts opened on or after 1 August 2016).
- Joint Press Release by all KYC Registration Agencies, 25 April 2024 (interaction of securities-market KRA KYC with the central registry; status framework).
- SEBI (KYC Registration Agency) Regulations, 2011 (securities-market KRA framework distinct from CKYCRR).
WebNotes Editorial Team prepares factual reference entries based on publicly available regulatory documents and primary sources. WebNotes is not affiliated with CERSAI, SEBI, or Zerodha Broking Limited. Procedures and identifiers are subject to change; verify current particulars at ckycindia.in and with the institution that holds your KYC record.