4929 - Banks continue to push for Aadhaar - Deccan Chronicle

Banks continue to push for Aadhaar

DC | 08th Nov 2013

Bengaluru: Banks have started emailing their customers forms to link their bank accounts with Aadhaar card. The email states, “It is important to acquire Aadhaar, it is also important to link your Aadhaar number to your bank account.”

The insistence from banks comes at a time when many are confused whether to go ahead with Aadhaar enrollment or not, following a Supreme Court order that it cannot be made mandatory for any social benefits extended by any government department or agency.

In the view of this order, the banks are now selling it as a ‘convenience’ rather than mandate. The emails being sent by banks state that the 12 digit unique identification number (UID), will not only serve as an proof of identity and residence, but it will also help customers avail eligible Government subsidies.

Hence linking bank accounts with Aadhaar will make the process of receiving eligible subsidies more convenient, as the payment gets routed directly through the Aadhaar-linked bank account.

This may be seen as promoting Aadhaar card when the legality of the scheme is under question. Forms sent to customers by banks also mention that Aadhaar number may be submitted by “resident individuals” (not citizens). The Supreme Court order also wants the authorities concerned to make sure that illegal migrants do not get Aadhaar cards.

However, banks continue to accept Aadhaar for all residents of India, which might include illegal migrants as Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has always maintained that Aadhaar numbers were to be issued for ‘every resident of India’.

In Karnataka, some social benefits have been suspended in Mysore and Tumkur after they failed to furnish their Aadhaar numbers. Mysore, Tum­kur and Dharwad are among the 51 districts that the union government has chosen for the first phase of implementation of direct cash transfer of subsidies.

States: 

Karnataka

4884 - Aadhaar, bank details of LPG users sought - Deccan Chronicle

Aadhaar, bank details of LPG users sought

DC | 24th Oct 2013

Nellore: The seeding of LPG consumers details with the oil marketing companies and the banks for direct benefit transfer scheme of the Government of India is in progress in SPSR Nellore district.

As of now seeding with oil companies has been completed for 2,15,229 consumers out of 4,94,060 in SPSR Nellore district and the linkage with the banks has been carried out for 1,19,393 consumers.

Speaking to this newspaper District Supplies Officer G. Umamaheswar Rao has appealed all the LPG consumers to submit their Aadhaar and Bank account details to their respective dealers without further delay to become eligible for subsidy.

He reminded that the government has set 31 December 2013 as deadline for the Aadhaar, LPG and Bank account linkage to pass on the subsidy part to the consumers account.

The consumers who fail to get their accounts linked to LPG and Aadhaar have to pay market price (Rs 1,073 now), the DSO cautioned.

According to Umamaheswar Rao, those linked their accounts will have to pay Rs 1,073 for cylinder to the delivery boy and the subsidy amount of Rs 583 will be credited to their accounts within two days after the delivery.

Referring to some complaints over subsidy part not being credited to the consumer accounts, he said that this is possible if consumers have more than one bank account and advised them to check all their accounts. "Some consumers have given one account number while obtaining Aadhaar card and another for linkage with oil marketing companies.

In such cases the amount is automatically going to the bank details they gave in Aadhaar application," the DSO noted.

He said that the oil companies credit Rs 435 to the accounts of consumers soon after the completion of linkage process towards difference in cost of LPG for 9 months. “If you find Rs 435 deposited in your account it is sign for completion of seeding,” Mr Umamaheswar Rao asserted.

4879 - Should I get an Aadhaar or not? Bengalureans in a dilemma - Deccan Chronicle

Should I get an Aadhaar or not? Bengalureans in a dilemma

DC | 23rd Oct 2013

Bengaluru: Conflicting announcements and instructions from various authorities have Bengalureans confused over whether or not to go ahead with enrolling for Aadhaar.

The Supreme Court has ordered that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for availing any services or social benefits extended by any government department or agency. But nationalised and private banks continue to insist on consumers linking their accounts with Aadhaar numbers.

Oil Companies also continue insisting on consumers furnishing Aadhaar numbers to link LPG services with Aadhaar numbers. Meanwhile, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Union government and PSU oil companies have approached the Supreme Court against the order of not making Aadhaar mandatory to avail of social benefits.

This has left many confused as the UIDAI has not issued any clarification, neither has any other department revised/updated its stand on the need for Aadhaar.

“There is a lot of confusion about Aadhaar. I had booked an appointment in the last week of October to get Aadhaar numbers for my entire family. But, now with the Supreme Court order makes it look like Aadhaar might be a vain effort. But EPFO, LPG, banks etc still say that Aadhaar is needed. I am not sure what to do,” said Rajjaq Ahmed, a resident of RT Nagar.

“I was keen on getting the Aadhaar number as there were talks that once bank accounts are linked with Aadhaar, banking will become cardless. But, now, I do not understand whether Aadhaar will be of any use or not. The authorities concerned must clarify,” said Shamik Sen, a software engineer and resident of BTM Layout.

Despite the Supreme Court order, many think that Aadhaar might be treated as a mandatory prerequisite for crucial services. Some social benefits have been suspended to some consumers in Mysore and Tumkur after they failed to furnish their Aadhaar numbers recently.

Many in Dharwad district fear the same fate. Mysore, Tumkur and Dharwad are among the 51 districts that the Union government has chosen for the first phase of implementation of direct cash transfer of subsidies.

4872 - Aadhaar queers pitch for scheme - DEccan Chronicle

Aadhaar queers pitch for scheme

DC | Shrinivasa M. | 22nd Oct 2013

Bengaluru: When the department of Food and Civil Supplies launched the Electronic Weighing-cum-Point of Sale Machines (EW-POS-M) in ‘fair price shops’ in the state, the move was welcomed. In fact it was hailed as the solution to the pilfering of subsidized food grains supplied under the Public Distribution System (PDS).

But now the department is planning to replace these machines (many with faulty biometric data base uploaded into them) with compulsory Aadhar cards. 

According to sources familiar with these developments, many complaints have been received by the department that Below Poverty Line (BPL) families were deprived of Anna Bhagya (Rs 1 rice scheme) due to these machines.

Complaints were attributed to the faulty biometric data collected in a drive launched by the department itself. It may be recalled that the department successfully removed more than 51 lakh bogus BPL cards through this drive.

An officer from the department informed that following complaints, these Electronic Weighing-cum-Point of Sale Machines are not working properly and the old manual module has been re-adopted in many fair price shops.

“A number of officials have reservations about these newly introduced machines. These machines were the brainchild of then-secretary, department of food and civil supplies B A Harish Gowda. When they were introduced for the first time in the city on a pilot project, even a parliamentary standing committee on Food and Civil Supplies appreciated it. But now in the changed circumstances no one wants these machines,” he said.

“These machines have become a nightmare for many fair price shop owners. Now in the name of errors in the biometric data, the manual system has been reintroduced in many areas,” he added.

Mean­while, the department is likely to make Aadhar compulsory to avail of the ‘Anna Bhagya’.

“The proposal is tagging the BPL card holders to Aadhar card to ensure that all the new schemes introduced by the department will reach all the beneficiaries and erase the benami beneficiaries,” he said. Dinesh Gundurao, minister, food and civil supplies (independent charge) was not available for comment even after repeated attempts.

States: 

Karnataka

4814 - Direction sought for not insisting on Aadhaar card - Deccan Chronicle

Direction sought for not insisting on Aadhaar card

DC | 11th Oct 2013

Hyderabad: A PIL has been filed in the AP High Court by a city-based advocate, seeking a direction to the Centre to direct the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to revert back to the old practice of supplying subsidised LPG cylinders to all the consumers without insisting on Aadhaar card in view of the Supreme Court order dated October 8, 2013.

Mohammed Abdul Gaffar, advocate of the city, moved the plea stating that the Apex Court has recently ruled that the Aadhaar card, being issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), was not mandatory for availing any government services or schemes and that nobody should be deprived of any such facilities for want of the card.

He urged the court to declare the circular of linking bank account with Aadhaar card to avail subsidised LPG cylinders, issued by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, as illegal and unconstitutional. He also urged the court to direct the state government not to insist on Aadhaar card for providing scholarships for school and college students.

4800 - ‘Concern over Aadhaar project’s impact on lives’ - Deccan Chronicle

‘Concern over Aadhaar project’s impact on lives’

DC | 08th Oct 2013

Bengaluru: Independant law researcher Usha Ramanathan addressed the problems that surround the central government’s Aadhaar project and listed several issues that make the project unfeasible. 

The lack of legal backing; possible misuse of data; breach of privacy of citizens; misidentification of a person and the possible need for re-enrollment at regular intervals were highlighted as some major issues with the project during a talk on UID Aadh­aar project and implications, here on Monday.

The talk assumes importance as it comes after a recent order of the Supreme Court that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for availing social benefits and that Aadhaar numbers/cards cannot be issued to illegal immigrants.

Ramanathan has been studying the project for the past four years and has made submissions before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance when it was considering the National Identification Auth­ority of India Bill 2010, introduced in Parlia­ment on December 3, 2010.

The Standing Committee rejected the Bill in December 2011 and no revised Bill has been introduced since then. Ramanathan expressed ‘concerns over mandatoriness and over what the UID project itself, is doing to people’s lives, to privacy, to lawlessness and to vulnerability’.

“The UIDAI has been preoccupied with speedy enrollment and it may mean that the information that is recorded about a person may be inaccurate and is likely to misidentify them,” she said.

Ramanathan accused the UIDAI authorities of being casual about it.

She said that the introducer system has collapsed and biometrics is still in its infancy and the reports produced by the UIDAI themselves suggest that there are huge gaps in possibility and performance. The UIDAI is already talking about re-enrollment at regular intervals, she added.

She said that there are major basic issues that have been ignore in case of Aadhaar project as- there is still no feasibility study, no cost:benefit analysis and no law of privacy or a law that protects the holder of the UID number from misuse and abuse. Ramanathan also expressed concern over the fact that the UIDAI owns the data base and expressly intends to profit from the sale of the data and of services linked to the data.

Ramanathan has raised several questions related to UID on various platforms on whether  UID is a card or a number, UID project is about identity or identification, about control and tracking or transparency, about information or data. 

4772 - Mandatory Aadhaar rule to continue: AP government - Deccan Chronicle

Mandatory Aadhaar rule to continue: AP government

DC | 06th Oct 2013

Hyderabad: There will be no change in the mandatory Aadhaar rule in the state for now. The state government has decided to continue the Aadhaar-must rule for citizens to avail of the benefits of various schemes till the Supreme Court delivers its final verdict on the issue.

The apex court had recently ruled that Aadhaar is not mandatory to get the benefits of various government schemes, but the Centre has filed a review petition over the issue and the case is pending. The case is expected to come up for hearing next week.

Principal secretary of social welfare department Raymond Peter, who monitors the disbursal of fee reimbursement and scholarships for over 25 lakh students in the state, said that students have to provide Aadhaar number in the online application form to avail of the benefits.

“Since the Supreme Court is yet to deliver the final verdict on Aadhaar, we have decided to continue with the Aadhaar-must norm,” he said.

Similarly, the Oil Marketing Companies have also decided to continue with the Aadhaar-must norm for domestic gas cylinder subsidy.