The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to the Centre’s submissions to extend the deadline to link Aadhaar with all government schemes and services to March 31. The interim order also extended the deadline to link Aadhaar with mobile numbers to the end of the financial year.

However, submission of Aadhaar – or at least an application number – remains mandatory to open new bank accounts, according to Live Law.

The five-judge Constitution bench issued the interim order on pleas seeking a stay on the Centre’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for a number of government services. The final hearing into petitions challenging the legality of the government’s Aadhaar programme will begin on January 17.

The Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, includes justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan.

On Thursday, the Centre told the Supreme Court that it is willing to extend the deadlines and had also requested it to push the last date to link cellphone numbers with Aadhaar to March 31. In 2016, the court recorded the Centre’s submission that it will link all mobile numbers with Aadhaar by February 6.

The government on Tuesday extended the deadline to link bank accounts with the unique identification programme to March 31. It also pushed the last date to link it with Permanent Account Numbers to the end of the financial year.