Lok Sabha Question No. 528 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-19
Subject: Purpose of Aadhaar Data
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: M. K. RAGHAVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 528

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## PURPOSE OF AADHAAR DATA

## 528. SHRI M.K. RAGHAVAN:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)      whether  the  data  collection  under  Aadhaar  is  only  to  ensure  that  welfare  and  pension scheme funds and public distribution system reach the poor or is it invasion of privacy;
- (b)   if so, whether such collection is infringing upon the citizens fundamental rights;
- (c)   if so, the areas where Aadhaar card has been made compulsory for an individual;
- (d)  whether Aadhaar is now primarily required for income tax returns and if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  whether the creation of PAN card for the purpose of income tax has failed to serve the purpose and is necessitating Aadhaar linkage; and
- (f)    if  so,  the  areas  which  were  found  harmful  under  PAN  scheme  and  the  steps  taken  to overcome these loopholes in detail?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR  ELECTRONICS AND  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) and (b): The role of UIDAI, under the Ministry, is to issue Aadhaar numbers and provide authentication  services  for  establishing  identity  of  the  beneficiaries.  Accordingly,  as  per Section 3 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 ('Aadhaar Act, 2016'), every resident is entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number.

The usage of Aadhaar for delivery of welfare service benefits or any other purpose and the extent to which Aadhaar is to be used is to be determined by the implementing agencies such as State Governments/Central Ministries and other agencies.

The usage of Aadhaar is governed by the Aadhaar  Act, 2016. Section 7 of the Act provides that  the  Central  Government,  or  as  the  case  may  be,  the  State  Government,  may  for  the purpose  of  establishing  identity  of  an  individual    as  a  condition  for  receipt  of  a  subsidy, benefit or service for which expenditure is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of  India, require  that  such  individual  undergo  authentication,  or  furnish  proof  of  possession  of Aadhaar  number  or  in  the  case  of  an  individual  to  whom  no  Aadhaar  number  has  been assigned,  such  individual  shall  make  an  application  for  enrolment.    Section  7  further provides that, if an Aadhaar number is not assigned to an individual, the individual shall be offered alternate and viable means of identification for delivery of the subsidy, benefit or service.

Further, provisions of Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act inter alia permit the usage of Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual for any purpose pursuant to any law or any  contract  to  this  effect  with  the  requirement  of  being  compliant  of  the  provisions  of Section 8 and Chapter VI of the Aadhaar Act. There is no infringement upon the citizens' fundamental rights.

The Aadhaar Act, 2016 is all encompassing legislation addressing issues of   data protection and  confidentiality  of  the  UIDAI  database.  The  Aadhaar  (Data  Security)  Regulations  & Aadhaar  (Sharing  of  Information)  Regulations,  2016  augment  the  measures  for  ensuring privacy and data protection.

- (c):  As on 13.07.2017, 123 schemes of various Central Ministries/ Departments have been notified under Section 7 or 57 of Aadhaar Act, 2016. In respect of these schemes,   Aadhaar number  is  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  identity  of  an  individual  to  enable receipt of subsidies, benefits and services etc  .
- (d): Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961, introduced by the Finance Act, 2017, has a provision that every person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number shall, on or after the 1 st day of July, 2017, quote Aadhaar number or Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form in the return of income. Vide notification number 37/2017, bearing S.O.1513(E), it has been notified  that  the  provisions  of  section  139AA  of  the  IT  Act,  1961  shall  not  apply  to  an individual who does not possess the Aadhaar number or the Enrolment ID and is:
- (i) residing in the States of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya;
- (ii) a non-resident as per the Income Tax Act, 1961;
- (iii) of the age of eighty years or more at any time during the previous year; or,
- (iv) not a citizen of India.

(e)  and  (f):  PAN  is  the  key  identifier  of  taxable  entity  and  aggregator  of  all  financial transactions undertaken by the entity. One PAN for one person is the guiding principle for allotment of PAN. However, for achieving the objective of one PAN to one assessee, it is required to maintain uniqueness of PAN.

The  uniqueness  of  PAN  is  achieved  by  conducting  a  de-duplication  check  on  all  already allotted  PAN  against  the  data  furnished  by  new  applicant.  Under  the  existing  system  of PAN, only demographic data is captured. Some instances were found where multiple PANs have been allotted to one person or one PAN has been allotted to multiple persons despite the application of de-duplication process based on demographic data. Linkage of Aadhaar number into PAN database will allow a robust way of de-duplication as Aadhaar number is based on biometric attributes of finger prints and iris images. Further, seeding of Aadhaar will allow weeding out any undetected duplicate PANs.

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