AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9310 - DYK: You can now e-verify ITRs using your bank or demat accounts

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, February 4, 2016

9310 - DYK: You can now e-verify ITRs using your bank or demat accounts - Live Mint

DYK: You can now e-verify ITRs using your bank or demat accounts

Last month, it was announced that you can now e-verify using your bank account or demat account details as well

Kavya Balaji

E-filing is a convenient way of submitting your income tax return (ITR), and e-verification is the process of verifying your ITR online through the e-filing portal of the income-tax (I-T) department. Until about a year ago, even if you e-filed, for it to become valid you had to either verify the same through a digitally signed certificate (DSC) or send the ITR verification (ITR-V) form to the Centralized Processing Centre in Bengaluru. In the last assessment year, e-filing was made completely paperless; you could e-verify if you had an Aadhaar number or Internet banking facility on your bank account. And last month, it was announced that you can now e-verify using your bank account or demat account details as well.

The process till now

For e-verification, you need to log on to https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/eFiling. Go through your e-filed returns and choose the one for which e-verification is pending. You can either choose to generate an Aadhaar-based one-time password (OTP) or an electronic verification code (EVC). EVC is a 10-digit alphanumeric series generated by the portal. You can choose to generate it through Net banking or have it sent to your registered mobile number and email. This EVC is valid for 72 hours. After you enter the OTP or EVC, your e-verification will be complete.

What’s new?

If you don’t have an Aadhaar or Internet banking facility, you can now use your bank account or demat account for e-verification. Using the e-filing website of the I-T department, you can pre-validate your bank account and demat account details. In case you want to use your bank account, you will have to provide your account number, Indian Financial System Code (IFSC), email address and mobile phone number. These details will then be validated against the details with your bank. The EVC that is generated will be sent by the portal to your email address and/or mobile number as verified by your bank. The list of banks participating in this process are available on the portal. Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts can also be used for e-verification.

To generate an EVC using your demat account, you need to provide details such as your demat account number, email address and mobile phone number. Using these details, along with your Permanent Account Number (PAN), the validation will be done by the I-T department.

Details are checked against the information available with depository institutions such as the Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) or National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL). The e-filing portal will send the generated EVC to your email address and/or mobile phone number as verified by CDSL or NSDL.

After the EVC is generated, you need to mention it in the ITR form for the final online submission. An acknowledge slip for the e-verification is available and can be downloaded.

Kavya Balaji