UIDAI tightens rules to link Aadhaar and bank accounts after Airtel case
The new regulations make it necessary for a customer’s ‘explicitly informed consent’ to link the unique identification number to an account.
The Aadhaar authority on Tuesday said it was tightening the rules to map or link the unique identification number to a new bank account.
The Unique Identification Authority of India made the decision after allegations that telecom major Bharti Airtel was using its users’ Aadhaar details to open accounts on the Airtel Payments Bank without their consent.
This became a problem because under the current system, the government sends subsidies to the last bank account linked to the Aadhaar number. As a result, more than 23 lakh Airtel customers did not know that their subsidies, including LPG subsidies, were being deposited in these accounts.
The new rules make it necessary for a customer’s “explicitly informed consent” to link Aadhaar to a bank account.
The UIDAI also asked the National Payments Corporation of India to disable the override feature, which many banks were using to seed Aadhaar to accounts without the consent of users.
The National Payments Corporation of India will only allow override requests if the bank confirms that it has the consent of the Aadhaar holder. Banks must also inform account holders through an SMS and email within 24 hours that they have sent a request to put their account on the mapper.
