The Aadhaar-issuing authority Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has clarified to banks that Aadhaar eKYC can be used to verify the beneficiaries of government subsidies and welfare schemes.
Customers apart from the above-mentioned categories can make use of physical Aadhaar card for authentication.
In it notification generated last week, UIDAI wrote to the lenders clarifying the ways and modes in which Aadhaar can be used. The authority also sent a copy of that announcement to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a senior UIDAI official told PTI.
The UIDAI penned the clarification to the bank after it received a legal opinion on the matter, in connection to the recent Supreme Court verdict that limited the use of Aadhaar by private entities but cleared it for welfare schemes.
The UIDAI informed the lenders that Aadhaar can be used for authentication for beneficiaries of government subsidies and welfare schemes. In addition, it also listed several ‘options’ for the use of Aadhaar (such as Quick Response or QR code and offline Aadhaar) for other banking customers in the light of Supreme Court judgment in the Aadhaar case, said the official who did not wish to be named.
The notification also clarified that physical Aadhaar card can be used for verification carried via offline mode if produced voluntarily, it clarified.
“There are viable and completely paperless and digital options available through digitally signed electronic form of Aadhaar which allows identity to be verified online without pinging our server. And through such methods the services can be seamlessly and digitally offered by banks for non-DBT customers,” Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO, UIDAI.
