March 31 deadline for Aadhaar linkage may be extended: Govt to SC

NEW DELHI: The deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail various services and welfare schemes run by the government may be further extended beyond March 31 the Centre indicated in the Supreme Court today. The Centre said that since some more time would be needed to conclude the prolonged hearing in the Aadhaar case the government may extend the deadline from March 31. A five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri A M Khanwilkar D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan agreed with the contention of Attorney General K K Venugopal. We have extended the deadline in the past and we will extend the deadline again but we may do it by the end of month to enable the petitioners in the case conclude the arguments Venugopal said. The bench said It is a very valid point raised by the Attorney General and the court would not allow repetitive arguments made by the petitioners counsel in the matter. On December 15 last year the apex court had extended till March 31 the deadline for mandatory linking of http://newhive.com/kkmyntra/profile/feed Aadhaar with various services and welfare schemes. Earlier senior advocate Shyam Divan who had led the arguments challenging Aadhaar and its enabling Act said that the deadline of March 31 be extended as it was highly unlikely that the hearing in the case challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act will be concluded. The deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various services and welfare schemes is March 31. This will have all India ramification as various institution would have to adjust themselves accordingly Divan said. Justice Chandrachud said even if the court reserved its verdict on March 20 the banks and other institution would have only 10 days left which might be difficult. The bench then called the Attorney General for assistance in the issue. At the fag end of today s hearing Venugopal appeared before the bench and made the statement about the possibility of extension of the deadline. Senior advocate Arvind Datar who argued against the Aadhaar scheme said it violated the fundamental rights of citizens. The hearing would continue tomorrow. Earlier on February 22 former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy had told the apex court that several deaths had reportedly taken place due to starvation on account of glitches in the Aadhaar-based public distribution system and the court must consider granting them compensation. He had urged the bench to consider granting compensation to those who had suffered on the ground of exclusion due to Aadhaar particularly the kin of the starvation death victims. Earlier the top court had observed that the alleged defect of citizens biometric details under the Aadhaar scheme being collected without any law could be cured by subsequently bringing a statute. It had said that the Centre came out with the law in 2016 to negate the objection that it was collecting data since 2009 without any authorisation but the issue which needed consideration was what would happen if the data collected earlier had been compromised.
To guard against unauthorised linking of mobile sim cards with the Aadhaar cards the Unique Identification Authority of India has asked the telecom companies to provide information to users regarding the sim cards linked with their Aadhaar card. The decision was taken after a string of reports emerged that some sim card dealers along with operators and agents were misuing the Aadhaar linking facility to issue new sim cards and reverify existing numbers according to a report in PTI. The UIDAI has warned telecom operators against such activities and asked them to roll out the new service to users by March 15. The last date for linking of Aadhaar with mobile sim cards is March 31 after which those who haven t linked their sim cards face disconnection. Apart from mobile disconnection those who haven t linked their Aadhaar cards with their bank accounts and PAN cards will not be able to use the services that come attached to it. They will face problems in filing tax returns and operating their bank accounts. Some of the other services where Aadhaar linking is needed are post office accounts for services like PPF and KVP and insuirance policies and mutual funds.
NEW DELHI: The UIDAI has directed all telecom operators to enable a facility that will allow subscribers to check the mobile SIMs which are linked to their Aadhaar number a step to guard against any unauthorised linking. The decision was taken after the UIDAI came to know about some retailers and agents of telecom companies allegedly misusing Aadhaar authentication facility to issue new SIMs or to re-verify mobile numbers other than that of the Aadhaar holder. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has now instructed telcos to ensure that their retailers or agents do not indulge in fraudulent activities related to unauthorised authentication transactions. It also asked the operators to have sufficient supervision to avoid any unauthorised authentication transactions. UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey told PTI In order for people to know which mobile number is linked to Aadhaar all telecom operators have been asked to provide this service to their customers by March 15. The telcos have been asked to provide mechanism including SMS-based facility that will not only allow their subscribers to check whether their mobile number is linked with Aadhaar but also be informed about other mobile numbers issued or verified against their Aadhaar number. The telecom service providers will provide facility to their subscribers through channels such as customer care number email web portal SMS or app to report any unauthorised mobile number linked with their Aadhaar number. The telecom service providers have been asked to invalidate unauthorised linkings and initiate action in such matters. Sources said that instances had come to UIDAI s notice where multiple successful authentication transactions were being performed under the guise of failed authentication and the same was being misused for issuing new mobile SIMs or reverifying subscribers other than the Aadhaar number holder. In light of the above the telecom service providers are hereby directed to immediately take note of such misuse and curb the malpractices... the UIDAI said in its recent direction issued to telecom operators. With over 1.2 billion residents already enrolled for the Aadhaar -- the unique 12-digit number backed by fingerprints iris scans and certain demographic details -- the programme today is the world s largest biometric database. Aadhaar is required as an identity proof of residents by various government and non-government entities. For instance the government has made it mandatory for verifying bank accounts and PANs (which helps track tax filings) to weed out black money and bring unaccounted wealth to book. The same for cellphone SIMs has been mandated to establish the identity of mobile phone users. Against the 142.9 crore active mobile subscribers in 85.7 crore cases the mobile connections have already been linked with Aadhaar.
Aadhaar number and issue of invoice for sale of alcohol has been made mandatory for retail liquor vends in Haryana a top official said. Moreover no liquor sale will be allowed in around 200 villages on the request of panchayats in the state. While not raising the strength of liquor vends for 2018-19 the M L Khattar government proposed massive hike of about 57 per cent in excise duty on country liquor and up to 10 per cent increase on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) which may lead to increase in liquor prices. In the new excise policy for 2018-19 unveiled here today the Haryana government proposed an 8 per cent increase in minimum retail price (MRP) of country liquor while preferring not to touch the MRP of IMFL. Haryana posted 13 per cent growth in excise and VAT revenue on liquor at Rs 5 682 crore over last fiscal s mobilisation despite the ban imposed by the Supreme Court on liquor vends within 500 meters of national and state highways an official said. For applicants L-2/ L-14 A which are retail vends Aadhaar card has been made mandatory. It will help in conducting the verification of applicants and check any shortcomings said Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (Excise and Taxation) Sanjeev Kaushal while talking to reporters here today. In another important move the excise policy also made mandatory for liquor vends to issue invoice for the sale of liquor to customers. Earlier the invoice was mandatory if the liquor sale was more than Rs 1 000. But now we have made compulsory for vends to give invoice to customers with every sale of liquor said Haryana ACS who was accompanied by the Excise and Taxation Commissioner Ashima Brar. Kaushal said the basic quota of Country Liquor (CL) has been raised from 950 lakh proof litres (PL) to 1 000 lakh PL and of IMFL from 550 lakh PL to 600 lakh PL. The number of retail outlets will remain the same as was in 2017-18 said ACS adding that the government had brought down the number of vends from 3 491 in 2016-17 to 2 323 in 2017-18. He said excise duty on CL has been increased from Rs 28 to Rs 44 per PL whereas on IMFL it has been increased from Rs 44-200 per PL to Rs 49-210 per PL. He informed that the MRP of CL had been increased from Rs 130 per bottle to Rs 140 per bottle. Asked what could be the impact on retail prices of liquor Kaushal said no increase in MRP of IMFL had been proposed. Manufacturers will look at their prices. But we do not expect them to change their prices (in case of IMFL) he said. To a query Haryana ACS said liquor will not be sold in as many as 198 villages which is the highest ever number of Panchayats whose request for not opening liquor vends was granted. During this year we received 500 resolutions passed by Gram panchayats against opening of liquor vends. However out of these 198 were found to be genuine he said. Kaushal said it has been decided that for environment protection the distilleries would provide 20 per cent quota in glass bottles for CL. To tighten noose around those involved in the practice of illegal sale and smuggling of liquor Kaushal said Haryana government has also decided to set up an Enforcement Wing headed by Excise and Taxation Commissioner (ETC). He said that the export duty on CL has been reduced from Rs. 1.5 to Rs. 0.50. Kaushal said Re 1 per bottle of CL IMFL or beer sold in the state would be utilised for the promotion of sports activities whereas Rs 3 Rs 5 and Rs 7 respectively for every bottle of beer CL and IMFL sold would be transferred to Panchayati Raj Institutions for development activities in the rural areas. The distribution of these funds would be in the ratio of 70:20:10 for Panchayats Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads. Apart from this keep in view the interest of the people it has been decided that the licence for serving liquor for one day during function at commercial places like banquet halls would be granted online he added.
A month before the expiry of the deadline around 80 per cent of bank accounts and 60 per cent of mobile connections have been linked with national biometric identifier Aadhaar according to a senior official at UIDAI. The government has mandated submission of the 12-digit unique identity number by every bank account holder by March 31 2018 to weed out unaccounted wealth. For the same purpose Aadhaar linking with income-tax permanent account number or PAN has also been made mandatory. By March 31 all mobile SIM cards are also to be linked with Aadhaar to establish the identity of mobile phone users. Out of the 109.9 crore banks accounts almost 87 crore have been seeded with Aadhaar said the official of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which issues the national ID number. Of this 58 crore have already been verified while in case of the rest the authentication process is underway with the documents that have been submitted to the banks the official said. The official further said that as against the 142.9 crore active mobile connections 85.7 crore have already been linked with Aadhaar. When contacted UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey told PTI: Yes about 80 per cent of the bank accounts have been seeded with Aadhaar and we hope that the remaining will be covered soon...Financial losses caused to banks and genuine account holders through identity frauds will be curbed. With over 1.2 billion residents already enrolled for Aadhaar -- a unique 12-digit number backed by fingerprints iris scans and certain demographic details -- the programme today is the world s largest biometric database. Aadhaar is required as an identity proof of residents by various government and non-government entities. While a five-judge Constitution bench is hearing a clutch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar programme as things stand today PAN bank accounts credit cards insurance policies mutual funds pension plans and social welfare benefits will have to be linked to Aadhaar by March 31 2018. To further safeguard the user and strengthen security the UIDAI recently announced a new concept of Virtual ID which an Aadhaar-card holder can generate from its website and give for various purposes including SIM verification instead of sharing the actual 12-digit biometric ID. The soon-to-be-introduced Virtual ID a random 16-digit number will give the users the option of not sharing their Aadhaar number at the time of authentication. Aadhaar has also announced that it will soon include face recognition alongside iris or fingerprint scan as a means of verifying the users helping those who face issues in biometric authentication or have worn-out fingerprints.
HighlightsDigiLocker is the same as eAadhaar issued by UIDAI UIDAI is as an issuer of digital Aadhaar in DigiLocker DigiLocker is aimed at the concept of paperless governance DigiLocker is a cloud-based platform for issuance storage sharing and verification of documents and certificates according to digilocker.gov.in. It is aimed at the concept of paperless governance and helps in securing lot of documents online and safe. Now DigiLocker also allows citizens to access their digital Aadhaar card number. Digital Aadhaar in DigiLocker is the same as eAadhaar issued by UIDAI(Unique Identification Authority of India). UIDAI is as an issuer of digital Aadhaar in DigiLocker said DigiLocker on it s official website.Digital Aadhaar in detailDigiLocker has partnered with UIDAI to make it available automatically to its users when they link their DigiLocker account with Aadhaar said DigiLocker. The advantage of digital Aadhaar is that it can now be used in the same way as any other DigiLocker document.Here are the steps to get eAadhaar in DigiLocker if you already have Aadhaar linked DigiLocker:1. Login to DigiLocker with your credentials2. Upon login to DigiLocker you will see a dialog box with a message to get your eAadhaar3. Click on Click here link. OTP box will appear in the dialog4. You will receive an OTP on your mobile number linked to Aadhaar. Enter this OTP in the OTP box and click Verify OTP button5. On successful validation of the OTP you will be redirected to Issued Document page where URI for eAadhaar will be listed CommentsClose X 6. Click on Save icon next to Aadhaar Card on Issued Document page7. Your eAadhaar will be saved to Uploaded Document section.
ALSO READ 5 Maoists held 4 Naxals arrested in Jharkhand CRPF jawan injured in Jharkhand encounter Chhattisgarh: CRPF soldier injured in encounter with Maoists CRPF Chhattisgarh Police attacked by naxals during patrol span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 Seven Maoists including four carrying rewards on their heads were arrested and a cache of arms and ammunition and over 300 adhar cards were seized by CRPF and the district armed police in raids since Monday in Giridih district of Jharkhand police said today. The raids took place in Akbaki village superintendent of police Surendra Kumar Jha said adding 13 firearms including AK-47 and INSAS rifles were seized in the raids. Among the others arrested Sunil Manjhi carries a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head Geeta the lone woman Rs 15 lakh Charlie alias Shekhar and Sohan Bhaiya Rs five lakh each the police said. The firearms included a AK 47 rifle INSAS and SLR rifles hand grenades large quantity of live cartridges the police said adding more than 300 Aadhaar cards were also seized. Police have begun investigation following the seizure of the large number of Aadhaar cards. The raids are still on the police said adding it was led by additional superintendent of police Deepak Kumar and comprised of battalions from Cobra CRPF Jharkhand Jaguar besides the district armed police.(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHANDIGARH: Army recruitment officers (AROs) have started taking extra precautions while selecting candidates from Haryana after coming across a number of cases where aspirants used fraudulent means to join the forces. In the latest instance an officer in Charkhi Dadri district of Haryana has come across at least five instances where youths tampered with their Aadhaar cards and got recruited. According to information accessed by TOI the aspirants used the facility to make corrections in Aadhaar cards and either entered the details of their siblings or entered fresh educational qualifications obtained through the open school system to become eligible. Director ARO Charkhi Dadri Col A K Pillai has written a letter to the Charkhi Dadri deputy commissioner who is authorised to access Aadhaar data to get information about the five candidates who allegedly made illegal corrections. Pillai told TOI Ashok (name changed) was overage to participate in the army s recruitment process. So he used his younger brother Sandeep s documents to participate in the selection process... 17 cases of fraud in 2018; process on to file FIRs Pillai said As Aadhaar is mandatory for participation he made corrections in his Aadhaar card by adding the name and date of birth of his brother after providing necessary documents to the Aadhaar authority http://www.foodspotting.com/kkmobik. In other cases candidates procured fresh matriculation certificates from the open school system with a new date of birth and minor changes in name (like Rajbir Chaudhary would be changed into Rajbir Singh). Again they made a request for corrections in the Aadhaar database which is permissible by producing some documents and appeared for the selection process with fresh details. Their biometrics thus remained unchanged explained the officer. Pillai who is in-charge of recruiting youths from four districts including Dadri Mahendergarh Rewari and Bhiwani says they have found many cases of impersonation and cheating by local youths keen to join the army but making corrections in Aadhaar details is a new way to deceive authorities. Once I receive information on the five suspect cases I will start the process of registering an FIR he said. Candidates were also found to have procured PAN cards on the basis of changed details. ARO conducts one recruitment rally in a year to fill vacancies allotted by the Army headquarters. Around 20 youths were booked last year by the police for adopting various cheating methods in the selection process. As many as 17 cases of fraud have been detected this year and the process of filing FIRs has been started. In most of the cases the cheating was detected after the candidates were selected but had not yet joined the training centres.