The SIR can not just take away one’s voting rights but also cut off one’s financial lifelines.

A woman has alleged that a non-banking financial company that had earlier given her a loan has rejected a fresh application citing the deletion of her name from the electoral rolls.

She said a representative of the company had told her this while acknowledging that her Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (Cibil) score was very good.

It is unclear how the company got to know about her exclusion from the rolls. There is speculation that people’s Aadhaar and PAN cards are being linked to their voter status — which the SIR has turned into a test of citizenship.

While mentioning one’s Aadhaar was not mandatory on the SIR enumeration form, many voters did so believing it would strengthen their case.

The haze around the possible consequences of SIR exclusion has left many deleted voters living in fear about having their bank accounts and deposits frozen.

The 33-year-old woman, a resident of Tangra and a household help, had taken a loan of ₹38,000 from the same company two years ago by furnishing her Aadhaar, voter and PAN cards.

“I repaid all the instalments on time. The company was satisfied with my records. I applied for a fresh loan of ₹2 lakh, and initially they agreed,” the woman, who did not wish to be named, said.

“A few weeks ago, a company representative told me that they could not disburse a fresh loan because my voter I-card was not valid any more.”

The woman said her parents’ names were on the 2002 list but her name did not figure on the rolls published on February 28.

She wanted the latest loan to be able to shift to new rented lodgings, which meant paying advance rent for 11 months apart from other expenses.

“I’m now asking my friends, employers and neighbours to provide me the money,” she said.

An official at a private bank said that before a loan is given, banks and NBFCs check the validity of the applicant’s documents “like Aadhaar and PAN cards through the portals of the issuing authorities”.

“Several layers of background checks are done before sanctioning the loan.”

NBFCs, which usually deal with the unorganised sector, often sanction loans on the basis of just Aadhaar and voter cards.

Panic: A lawyer providing pro bono assistance to many people whose names have been deleted from the electoral rolls said most of them were apprehensive about whether their bank accounts would now be frozen.

The Supreme Court has clarified that even if those excluded cannot vote in this election, their voting rights will be restored for future elections if they win their appeals against their deletion.

“The lack of clarity and inconsistency in the process, where Aadhaar was stated as optional in the form but, in practice, forms were often not accepted without it, has created widespread uncertainty and fuelled fears that may or may not have anyfactual basis,” Hera Nafis, a Calcutta High Court advocate, said.

“Many people have begun to believe that deletion from voter records could lead to consequences such as the cancellation or freezing of their bank accounts.”

She continued: “During form-filling, numerous such concerns were raised: A senior citizen, whose case was under adjudication, feared that fixed deposits made before the process mightbecome inaccessible. Others contemplated the premature withdrawal of their savings despite penalties, and some even withdrew funds out of panic.”

Nafis said there were also fears that deletion from the rolls could trigger the cancellation of Aadhaar and PAN as well.