Govt Proposes Aadhaar Act Amendments to Allow Use for Pvt Services

Aadhaar Act, in its current form, doesn’t empower the Authority to take enforcement action against errant entities.

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(Photo: Liju Joseph/The Quint)

The government has proposed to allow the use of Aadhaar number for authentication on “voluntary basis” as acceptable KYC document under the Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, sources told The Quint.

Amid privacy concerns over Aadhaar, amendments have been planned in the Act, under which the government also proposes to arm the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) with more powers.

A bill to amend the Aadhaar Act, the Indian Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 2 January.

The Aadhaar Act, in its present form, does not empower the Authority to take enforcement action against errant entities in the Aadhaar ecosystem.

The Quint has accessed the explanatory note of Bill which proposes amendments which allows children, holding Aadhaar, to cancel the 12 digit biometric identifier within a period of six months of attaining 18 years of age.

It also has provision “to enhance the restriction on sharing of information by requesting entity and online verification-seeking entity.”

The Bill also plans to “provide for voluntary use of Aadhaar number in physical or electronic form by authentication or offline verification or any mode which may be notified by the central government.”

The purpose of this amendment appears to allow the use of Aadhaar authentication services by private sector which had been disallowed by the Supreme Court in its judgement in September 2018.

Besides, the government also plans to set up a UIDAI fund under the Aadhaar Act and has proposed that the authority be exempt from taxes on income.

Other Proposed Amendments

• Authentication of offline verification of Aadhaar number can be performed only with the informed consent of the Aadhaar number holder.
• Prevention of denial of services for refusing to, or being unable to, undergo authentication.
• To confer power upon the authority to give such directions as it may consider necessary to an entity in Aadhaar ecosystem.
• For establishment of UIDAI Fund
• To enhance the restriction on sharing of information by requesting entity and offline verification-seeking entity.

(Photo: The Quint)

(Photo: The Quint)

The government has also proposed a penalty of up to Rs 1 crore on entities that violate the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, with an additional fine of up to Rs 10 lakh per day in case of continuous non-compliance, news agency PTI reported quoting sources.

(With inputs from PTI)