Lok Sabha Question No. 205 (STARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Aadhaar for eKYC
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: VASANTHI M.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *205

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.12.2018

## AADHAAR FOR eKYC

## *205.       SHRIMATI VASANTHI M.:

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

- (a)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  Aadhaar  eKYC  can  be  used  to  authenticate  beneficiaries  of Government subsidies and welfare schemes while for other customers, physical Aadhaar card can be used for verification;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether it is also true that the Unique Identification Authority of India has written to the banks clarifying the instances and modes in which Aadhaar can be used for verification; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) to (d): A statement  is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*205 FOR 26.12.2018 REGARDING AADHAAR FOR E-KYC

………

(a) and (b): The Hon'ble Supreme Court in its judgement dated 26/09/2018 in the matter of W.P. (Civil) No. 494 of 2012 & connected matter has upheld  Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act 2016, the provisions of which authorizes the Central Government or a State Government to, inter  alia,  require  an  individual  to  undergo  authentication  or  furnish  proof of  possession  of Aadhaar number or apply for an Aadhaar number, as a prerequisite for receiving any subsidy, benefit or service for which expenditure is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India.  In this regard, the Hon'ble Court has recorded the following conclusion in para 446(b) of the judgement:

'(b) Insofar as subsidies, benefits or services to be given by the Central Government or the State  Government, as the case may be, is concerned, these Governments can mandate that receipt of these subsidies, benefits and services would be given only on furnishing proof of possession  of  Aadhaar  number  (or  proof  of  making  an  application  for  enrolment,  where Aadhaar  number  is  not  assigned).  An  added  requirement  is  that  such  individual  would undergo authentication at the time of receiving such benefits etc. A particular institution/body from which the aforesaid subsidy, benefit or service is to be claimed by such an individual, the  intended  recipient  would  submit  his  Aadhaar  number  and  is  also  required  to  give  her biometric information to that agency. On receiving this information and for the purpose of its authentication, the said agency, known as Requesting Entity (RE), would send the request to the Authority  which  shall  perform  the  job  of  authentication  of  Aadhaar  number.  On confirming the identity of a person, the individual is entitled to receive subsidy, benefit or service. Aadhaar number is permitted to be used by the holder for other purposes as well.'

The use of physical Aadhaar Card, without authentication, in order to establish the identity of the Aadhaar number holder, purely on a voluntary basis, is not prohibited by the aforesaid judgement of the Hon'ble Court.  On the other hand, certain observations in the judgement expressly  contemplate  and  permit  such  voluntary  use  of  the  Aadhaar  number/card  by  the holder.  In this regard,  paragraph 367 of the said judgement reads as:

- '  367)  The  respondents  may  be  right  in  their  explanation  that  it  is  only  an  enabling provision  which  entitles  Aadhaar  number  holder  to  take  the  help  of  Aadhaar  for  the purpose of establishing his/her identity. If such a person voluntary wants to offer Aadhaar card as a proof of his/her identity, there may not be a problem.'
- (c) and (d): Yes Sir. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issued a circular dated  23/10/2018  regarding  use  of  Aadhaar  for  opening  bank  accounts  and  withdrawal  of money through Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS). The circular, inter-alia, provided clarification on voluntary use of physical Aadhaar and Aadhaar based authentication by banks of  beneficiaries  who  are  availing  subsidies,  benefits,  services  covered  by  Section  7  of Aadhaar Act.

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