Willing to extend all Aadhaar linking deadlines to March 31

Supreme Court has said it will hear Aadhaar pleas after concluding the Delhi-Centre matter

Business News : The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear a batch of petitions challenging mandatory linking of Aadhaar for granting various services to citizen after its constitution bench concludes hearing the Delhi-Centre dispute.

The Centre, meanwhile, informed the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that it was willing to extend up to March 31 next year the deadline fixed for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various schemes.

The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said only the Constitution bench will pass an interim order in the matter.

The petitioners challenging the Aadhaar scheme have been pressing for an interim stay order on the government’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for welfare schemes.

The apex court is hearing a batch of pleas filed by the Delhi government against the Delhi high court verdict which had held that Delhi is not a state and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) is its administrative head.

On October 30, a bench headed by the CJI had said that a constitution bench would be constituted and Aadhaar-related matters would come up for hearing before it.

The apex court had on November 13 refused to entertain a plea challenging the linking of mobile numbers with Aadhaar, saying several similar petitions were already pending before it.

Click to Read → Aadhaar Linking Deadline

Don’t have Aadhaar? You can still verify your mobile number. Here’s how

500 mn mobile numbers registered in Aadhaar database, OTP can be used for verification in all these cases

 

 

The government will soon put in place a mechanism for authentication of cellphone subscribers who do not have Aadhaar numbers.

It may also explore another method for people unwilling to share their Aadhaar numbers with telecom companies. Such a method will conform with the Supreme Court’s mandate on re-verification of mobile subscribers.

People who did not have Aadhaar number might be provided the option of furnishing their passport, driving licence or ration card as proof of address and identity, sources said.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has announced a series of measures for simplifying the re-verification process using Aadhaar numbers by offering the facility at the subscriber’s doorstep and using one-time passwords (OTPs).

Telecom companies have been directed to offer the doorstep facility for the convenience of the old or those with disability and illness. They have also been asked to initiate OTP-based verification using SMS or IVRS on mobile apps.

“It is the government’s endeavour to improve convenience and reduce time and energy spent by consumers in accessing government information,” Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said.
Nearly 500 million mobile numbers are registered in the Aadhaar database and the OTP can be used for verification in all these cases.

For agent-assisted biometric authentication, telecom companies have been asked to ensure all the details of subscribers are not visible to the agent. This facility is meant for people who face problems with poor fingerprint quality, disability or old age. The re-verification exercise is scheduled to be completed by early 2018.

Click here to read more → Aadhaar Mobile Verification

Deadline to link Aadhaar with schemes extended till March 31

No action has been taken against those who do not want to link their Aadhaar with either bank accounts or mobile numbers

 

 

 

The deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail benefits of various government schemes would be extended till March 31 next year, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

It told a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the deadline for Aadhaar linking to avail benefits of the schemes was to end in December and it has now been decided to extend it until March 31, 2018.

"We have decided to extend it until March 31, 2018," Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud.

The counsel appearing for petitioners, who have challenged the government's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for these schemes, raised the issue of the mandatory linking of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) number with bank accounts and mobile numbers.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for petitioners, said the main Aadhaar matter should be heard soon, as though the government has decided to extend the deadline until March 31 next year, it has also not said that no action would be taken against those who do not want to link their Aadhaar with either bank accounts or mobile numbers.

"Final hearing of the matter is necessary. They can make a statement that they will not take a course of action against those who don't want to link Aadhaar," Divan said.

Click here to read more → Aadhaar Deadline