AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 113114 - No, it is not mandatory to link your bank account with Aadhar card

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, May 11, 2017

113114 - No, it is not mandatory to link your bank account with Aadhar card - Business Today

No, it is not mandatory to link your bank account with Aadhar card

Recently, I got a call from my bank asking me to visit the branch to give my Aadhaar number. There was a sense of urgency in his voice making the whole thing sound very critical.

Teena Jain Kaushal

New Delhi, May 9, 2017 | UPDATED 11:19 IS

Recently, I got a call from my bank asking me to visit the branch to give my Aadhaar number. There was a sense of urgency in his voice making the whole thing sound very critical. Trying to maintain my calm, I enquired if there is any such notification from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Pushing aside my question he said you just need to do it. When I argued that it is not mandatory, he put me to his senior. The senior immediately accepted that it is not mandatory. But he went on to convince me that it might become in future and how useful it would be. I cut short the conversation by saying I do not see any benefit in it.

The truth is there has been no notification from the RBI to mandatorily link a bank account with the Aadhaar number. By collecting Aadhaar details from their customers banks are trying to pre-empt the possibility of it becoming compulsory in future. Another reason why banks are ensuring seeding of Aadhaar into a customer's account is to promote digital transactions by promoting Aadhaar enabled transactions without the use of debit and credit card. Currently, linking of Aadhaar with your bank account is to facilitate receipt of direct benefit transfer from the government.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit number code, issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). It is used to establish a person's identity on the basis of demographic and biometric information.

Moreover, according to the RBI's guidelines banks have to accept one of the six official documents for opening of an account including PAN card and Aadhaar. There is no requirement for an individual to produce both the documents for opening of a bank account.

However, experts say linking of PAN with Aadhaar, will eventually end up linking your bank accounts with Aadhaar number. This is because bank accounts of the person would already have PAN (as KYC requirement). Once Aadhaar is linked with PAN, it will certainly lead to automatic link with the bank accounts as well. Hence, the interconnection of PAN card, Aadhaar and bank accounts, implies that the government will be able to keep a track of your financial transactions.

According to a recent notification by the Income Tax Department, if you do not link your PAN card with the Aadhaar card within the stipulated time, it may lead to invalidation of your PAN card. If that happens, you will not be able to file your return this year as quoting of both PAN and Aadhaar has been made mandatory. The deadline for which is June 30, 2017. Not only linking PAN with Aadhaar, you also need to link your bank accounts with PAN by June 30, 2017. In case the PAN is not there you need to fill the Form 60.