Cabinet nod to amendment of laws for Aadhaar seeding with mobile numbers, bank accounts

Cabinet nod to amendment of laws for Aadhaar seeding with mobile numbers, bank accounts

News:

Aadhaar to be voluntary for mobiles, bank accounts.

Facts:

Proposed Amendments:

• The Union cabinet has proposed amendments to The Telegraph Act, Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Aadhaar Act as a move to provide convenience to individuals who were willing to share their details.
• The Telegraph Act is being amended to provide legal backing for the issuance of mobile SIMs through Aadhaar.
• Similarly, the amendment to the PMLA will give individuals option to link their bank accounts to Aadhaar in the KYC option.
• The Supreme Court had struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that had allowed sharing of data with private entities for verification, forcing the telecom and banking sectors to stop using the system that had speeded up the process to a few minutes
• Bill also provides for private entities using Aadhaar as a KYC document will have to ensure safety and privacy of the Aadhaar data
• Under the amendments, an Aadhaar holder can opt for offline verification through QR code.
• The cabinet also approved 10-year jail terms for those found guilty of data breach.
• Child who has been enrolled for Aadhaar through his/her parents will have an option to opt out of Aadhaar database after attaining age of 18 years.
• SC in the past ruled that Aadhaar could not be mandatory for services other than direct benefit transfer, social welfare schemes or issuing of PAN by the I-T dept.
• The plan will help telecom companies, banks and financial technology firms, which were worried about massive paperwork after the recent Supreme Court order on Aadhaar.