Actor and author Sunil Gupta on Thursday served a legal notice on the Union finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India to restrain public sector banks from compelling customers to divulge their “religion” or “caste” identity in the KYC (know your customer) details.

In a notice addressed through advocate Pranav Sachdeva, the veteran theatre artiste said: “…Asking the customers about their respective religions/ caste is wholly unnecessary and serves no purpose whatsoever except creating an atmosphere of perceived discrimination on the basis of religion/ caste which is against the very principles of secularism and a casteless society.”

The banks have allegedly been seeking “religion” and “caste” details despite rules of the finance ministry and the RBI prohibiting any such requirements.