AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13694 - Banks baulk at high cost of Aadhaar verification

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

Friday, June 22, 2018

13694 - Banks baulk at high cost of Aadhaar verification - The Hindu

Banks baulk at high cost of Aadhaar verification

Manojit Saha

MUMBAI, JUNE 15, 2018 22:38 IST

UIDAI has said the charges are very nominal. | Photo Credit: V_V_KRISHNAN

‘Exorbitant’ authentication licence fees hurt smaller banks

Bankers have questioned the “exorbitant” charges prescribed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for Aadhaar authentication services. Calling for a review of the charges, banks have warned that smaller lenders may have no option but to shift the burden to customers.

Few branches

In a missive sent late last month to the UIDAI, the Maharashtra Urban Co-operative Banks Federation said it had been flooded with complaints from banks expressing concern over the charges, which were ‘not affordable’ for a majority of its members.

“Most of the non-scheduled UCBs are unit banks or have less than five branches. UCBs with a customer base of five crore are meeting the credit needs of poor and marginal sections of the society at the rural level and playing an unique and efficient role in financial inclusion and inclusive growth of the country,” the Federation has pointed out in its letter, which has been seen by the The Hindu.

The Federation represents about 500 of the 517 co-operative banks in Maharashtra. While there are about 1562 urban cooperative banks (UCBs) in India, officials in larger banks are also concerned about the UIDAI’s costs but are wary of placing it on record.

Offset by savings: UIDAI

Responding to the issue, UIDAI sources said the licence fee levied on Authentication User Agencies (AUAs) or e-KYC Authentication User Agencies (KUAs), including banks and telcos, by the UIDAI is very nominal given the benefit to the entities from instant verification of their customers through Aadhaar Authentication services.

“It has helped them move to digital and secure medium from paper based verification that has lead to good cost savings. Also, there is no transaction charge as such,” the UIDAI said.

Banks have to pay a fee of ₹20 lakh with a validity of two years for production environment facility for authentication of Aadhaar. For availing pre-production environment facility, a fee of ₹5 lakh is levied, with a validity of three months. If banks want to continue the pre-production facility for more than three months, they have to pay ₹5 lakh again for another three month period. According to bankers, such high charges for enabling the Aadhaar environment for customers are not justifiable since the unique identification numbers were sought to be used for social objectives. The high charges are particularly affecting smaller banks, small finance banks, prepaid payment instrument issuers and smaller non-banking finance companies.

The Federation has requested the UIDAI to revisit its licence fee structure, in sync with the size of an UCB, so that they are not unnecessarily burdened. It also flagged the charges for authentication service agencies which it said are ₹1 crore with a two year validity for production environment facility, and ₹10 lakh for three month validity for pre-production environment facility.

“It has helped them move to digital and secure medium from paper based verification that has lead to good cost savings. Also, there is no transaction charge as such,” the UIDAI said.

According to bankers, such high charges for enabling the Aadhaar environment for customers are not justifiable since the unique identification numbers were sought to be used for social objectives. The high charges are particularly affecting smaller banks, small finance banks, prepaid payment instrument issuers and smaller non-banking finance companies.

The Federation has requested the UIDAI to revisit its licence fee structure, in sync with the size of an UCB, so that they are not unnecessarily burdened.

The Federation has also flagged the charges for authentication service agencies (ASA) which it said are ₹1 crore with a two year validity for production environment facility, and ₹10 lakh for three month validity for pre-production environment facility.

The Aadhaar (Authentication) Regulation, 2016, provides for appointment of Authentication User Agencies (AUAs), e-KYC User Agencies (KUAs) and Authentication Service Agencies. The Reserve Bank of India as well as UIDAI, through various notifications, have made it mandatory for urban co-operative banks to submit online information to UIDAI, the Federation noted.