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Monday, December 17, 2018

Aadhaar No Longer Mandatory for Phones, Banking as Centre Approves Changes to Law Monday Dec 17,2018

The Cabinet on Monday Dec 17,2018 gave its nod to amending the two existing laws to provide legal backing for seeding of biometric ID Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts, sources said.

The Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved amendments to the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the Supreme Court of India(SCI)in Sep'18  imposed restrictions on the use of Aadhaar by private companies

The SCI  had struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that made seeding of the biometric ID with SIMs and bank accounts mandatory, saying it had no legal backing.


To overcome this lacuna, the Telegraph Act is being amended to provide legal backing for the issuance of mobile SIMs through Aadhaar.

Similarly, the amendment to the PMLA will give individuals option to link their bank accounts to Aadhaar in the KYC option.

The SCI in a landmark judgment had held constitutional validity of Aadhaar for the distribution of state-sponsored welfare subsidies but ruled that it cannot be made mandatory for opening bank accounts or providing mobile-phone connections. The ruling followed petitons by activists and lawyers citing privacy concerns.

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