Aadhaar body, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will soon meet the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Telecom Regulator Trai to check whether there is any requirement for extending the deal of mandatory Aadhaar linking with essential services. UIDAI is exploring this option because of the implementation of new security protocols such as Virtual ID. UIDAI recently introduced two new security protocols to make the Aadhaar data secure.
“In the case of Permanent Account Number and bank accounts, the law — Income Tax Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) — require the Aadhaar number, so there is unlikely to be any impact,” a senior official said to Economic Times.
As of now, there's no info when UIDAI will meet the top officials from different authorities, but the report cites 'in the coming weeks.' As stated, UIDAI recently added Virtual ID as a new security measure which allows users to share a 16-digit ID instead of the 12-digit Aadhaar ID to carry the transaction. Just yesterday, it announced the Face Recognition measure, which will be implemented by July 1, 2018.
“Any scheme for which money goes from the Consolidated Fund of India will require Aadhaar. Our view is that people are more comfortable sharing (Aadhaar number) with government agencies as compared to private ones,” added the ET report.
At the moment, Indian residents are required to link their 12-digit Aadhaar ID with services such as Permanent Account Number (PAN), bank accounts, and mobile connections. And the deadline for linking is March 31, 2018. Furthermore, Aadhaar holders are required to link with various other schemes such as the public provident fund (PPF), Post Office deposits, Kisan Vikas Patra, and National Savings Certificate scheme.
Earlier, the deadline was December 31, 2017, but in the first week of 2018, the deadline was extended to March 31, 2018, as millions of Indians are yet to finish the mandatory linking.
“The government will soon hold meetings with the telecom department officials to know whether they think companies require Aadhaar numbers,” the same official quoted. He further added that other departments should take the decision of extending the deadline of their own.
Telecom operators are trying their best to get customers reverify their mobile connection with Aadhaar. All the major telcos have rolled out the IVRS Aadhaar verification to simplify the work of customers.
