Approval of the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019

Cabinet has approved Aadhaar and other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to replace the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 so as to make it friendly to the people. As per the directions of the Supreme Court and recommendations of Justice B. N Srikrishna (Retd) Committee this amendment envisaged strengthening of the Aadhaar Act.

This is Image in Aadhaar & Other Law Bill 2019

Features

  • With the consent of the Aadhaar number holder this amendment provides for voluntary use of Aadhaar number in physical or electronic form by authentication or offline verification.
  • To conceal the actual Aadhaar number of an individual this amendment provides for use of twelve-digit Aadhaar number and its alternative virtual identity.
  • The children on attaining the age of 18 years are entitled to cancel their Aadhaar number.
  • This amendment permits the entities to perform authentication only when they are compliant with the standards of privacy and security specified by the Authority.
  • The authentication is permitted under any law made by Parliament or is prescribed to be in the interest of State by the Central Government.
  • It allows the use of Aadhaar number for authentication on voluntary basis as acceptable KYC document under the Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002;
  • The amendment proposes deletion of section 57 of the Aadhaar Act relating to use of Aadhaar by private entities.
  • Prevents denial of services for refusing to, or being unable to, undergo authentication;
  • This amendment also provides for establishment of Unique Identification Authority of India Fund.
  • The civil penalties, its adjudication, appeal thereof in regard to violations of Aadhaar Act and provisions by entities in the Aadhaar ecosystem are also provided by this amendment.

Impact

  • To serve the public interest and restrain the misuse of Aadhaar in An effective manner, this decision would enable UIDAI to have a more robust mechanism.
  • No individual shall be compelled to provide proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo authentication for the purpose of establishing his identity unless it is so provided by a law made by Parliament.
  • The proposed amendments would allow the use of Aadhaar number for authentication on voluntary basis as acceptable KYC document under the Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 for the convenience of general public in opening of bank accounts.

Examrace Team at Aug 21, 2021