AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8570 - Filed your income tax returns? Go ahead and e-verify I-T

In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.

On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.

In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.

In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.

In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.

"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi

Ram Krishnaswamy

Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Thursday, August 20, 2015

8570 - Filed your income tax returns? Go ahead and e-verify I-T - Economic Times

Filed your income tax returns? Go ahead and e-verify I-T

By Chandralekha Mukerji, ET Bureau | 19 Aug, 2015, 10.13AM IST

There seems to be a general aversion towards e-verification of returns, a process introduced this year by the Income Tax Department that makes tax-filing fully paperless.

Till last year, if you did not have a digital signature, you had to send a copy of the ITR V to the Central Processing Centre in Bengaluru.From this year, the tax department has introduced an alternate way of paperless e-filing via Electronic Verification Code (EVC). The 10-digit EVC code can be generated through your net banking account, linking your Aadhaar card, using ATMs or even by registering your email or mobile number on the income tax website.

However, there seems to be a general aversion to e-verifying among taxpayers.

According to the income tax department's website, among the total 62.19 lakh returns files, only 12.8 lakh taxpayers have used the e-verification route so far. "The method is not complicated and most of the taxpayers who e-file are tech-savvy. So, there seems to be a lack of awareness," says Sudhir Kaushik, Cofounder and CFO of Taxspanner.com.

Here are the various ways in which you can generate the EVC.

REGISTER E-MAIL

The taxpayer can generate an EVC by login into the income tax e-filing website--http:www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. However, this mode can be used only if the total income, that is before applying any deductions, is Rs 5 lakh or below and there is no refund claim. After you log in and opt for e-filing, you can request for the code by clicking on the "Generate EVC" option.

The site will ask you to choose between--e-filing OTP or EVC through Net banking. Click on the former and a one-time-password (OTP) will be sent to your mobile number or registered e-mail ID. Use this code under the e-verify option given on the site and complete your tax-return process.

NET BANKING

If your total income is more than rs 5 lakhs or if there is refund, you have only one option--EVC through net banking. When you select this options, you'll be redirected to a page with the list of banks available for net banking Login. If your bank has authorised by the income tax department for providing direct access to the government's e-filing website, the name should be here and you should be able to log in using your internet-banking ID and password. Also, your PAN must have been validated via KYC. The EVC will be sent to your bank-registered mobile number. "This will be a big relief to NRIs who do not have digital signatures and faced a lot of problem with mailing physical ITR-Vs," says Preeti Khurana, Chief Content Editor, ClearTax.in.

Some banks have been registered for generating EVC using your debit or credit card via ATM machines.However, the channel seems to be not working. This is also not the best way and the net banking route is much simpler.

AADHAAR NUMBER

For this, your Aadhaar card and PAN should be linked. If the two are not linked income tax department's website show a pop-up and you simply have to fill in your Aadhaar number on the redirected page to link the two. Once linked, an OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number which is valid for next 10 minutes.