Cabinet approves Aadhaar amendment bill
Many new rules related to Aadhaar card are going to come. The Cabinet approved an amendment bill on Wednesday to allow voluntary use of the Aadhaar for opening a bank account and obtaining mobile phone connections. If there is no compulsion of any other law after this amendment, the person will not be obliged to give the Aadhaar details for proving his or her identity.
According to the official release, in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ‘Bill of Aadhaar (Amendment) Bill, 2019’ was approved. There has been a provision to impose strict penalties on violation of rules. This bill will be in the form of amendment to the Aadhar law 2016 and other laws and will replace the Ordinance issued in March 2019.
This amendment bill will be introduced in the session beginning from June 17 of the Parliament. According to the official release, “With this decision, UIDAI (Indian Unique Identification Authority) will be able to form a strong system in line with the interests of the people and it will help in reducing the misuse of the Aadhaar.”
If there is no objection of any law passed by Parliament after this amendment, then no person can be compelled to submit Aadhaar number to prove their identity.
It said, “The proposed amendment recognizes the use of the Aadhaar in opening bank accounts for the convenience of the people, but giving the Aadhaar number to the bank is voluntary. Under the Telegraph Act, 1885 and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, banks can accept it as a KYC document.”
This means that voluntary use of the Aadhaar will be allowed in the form of verification and identity card for opening a bank account and taking mobile phone connection. According to the release, the basis of this decision will prove to be more convenient and useful for the people.
The proposed amendments are in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance declared by the President on March 2, 2019. Under the proposed change, a person can use the Aadhaar number in a physical or electronic form for voluntary certification or verification. It has the facility to use alternate virtual identity of the Aadhaar to keep the actual Aadhaar number of the person inaccessible.
According to the release it is permitted only to verify the institutions, provided they comply with the safetystandards specified by the Authority. Under this, no person can be compelled to give proof of having a Aadhaar number for their identity or to complete the process of Aadhaar verification for the work, unless there is such a provision in any law passed by Parliament.
The amendment bill proposes to remove Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act related to the use of the Aadhaar by private institutions. If the Aadhaar number is not verified then in such a situation even a person can not be denied the service.
In addition, it is proposed to set up a Unique Identification Authority of India. The amendment has been proposed to impose a fine of up to Rs one crore on units for violation of the provisions of the Aadhaar Act. If the rules are not followed consistently, the penalty will be imposed up to Rs 10 lakh per day.
Unauthorized use of the Aadhaar in the case of requesting or physically verifiable is punishable. For this, there is a provision of imprisonment for up to three years with a penalty of up to Rs 10,000. In the case of the company, this amount is up to Rs 1 lakh. With the access to the Central Identities Data Repository in unauthorized manner, there is a provision of punishment for 10 years from the present three years.
