No Proposal to Make Aadhaar Mandatory for Property Deals: Govt

PM Narendra Modi had hinted at a crackdown on ‘benami’ properties, spiking speculations over Aadhaar linkage.

The government in Budget 2017 mandated seeding of Aadhaar number with PAN to avoid individuals using multiple PAN’s to evade taxes. 

(Photo: Reuters)

There’s no proposal to make Aadhaar linkage mandatory for property transactions, the Centre informed the Parliament on Tuesday, 19 December.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, however, said that the rural development ministry had advised the states and union territories to explore the possibilities of using consent-based Aadhaar authentication for registration of properties under the provisions of the Registration Act, 1908.

The comments assume significance in the backdrop of Puri reportedly stating last month that seeding Aadhaar to property transactions was a great idea and as the government was linking Aadhaar to bank accounts, it may take some additional steps for the property market as well.

At present, there is no proposal to make Aadhaar linkage mandatory in property transactions.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Urban Affairs Minister

Commenting on whether the government had set any time-frame for linking the unique identification number for property dealings, he said, “(The question) does not arise.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hinted at a crackdown on ‘benami’ properties and thus, there was a speculation that linking Aadhaar with property transactions could be a step in that direction.

A ‘benami’ property is one which is held by the owner in someone else’s name.