On Tuesday, the Supreme Court extended the deadline to link aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile phones indefinitely till the judgement on petitions which challenge the validity of the unique ID scheme and the enabling law is pronounced. The ruling further stated that except for the subsidies, the Centre and States cannot insist on furnishing Aadhaar for any other service that includes passport issuance.
However, the relief shall not be granted to services and subsidies under section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016. Likewise, for several of the government aided welfare schemes, subsidies for kerosene, LPG and for obtaining scholarships, you may still need to provide your 12-digit unique Aadhaar number.
In a tweet UIDAI said, ‘the requirement of Aadhaar for opening new bank accounts and applying for Tatkal passports under the relevant laws continues.’
Aadhaar Linking Deadline Extended; Still You Will Require It At These Places
What is Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act?
Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 underlines that the central and state government can make the obtainment as well as authentication of aadhaar number mandatory for receiving benefits, services and subsidies that are funded from the Consolidated Fund of India. Also, the Act states that in case an individual is not assigned an aadhaar number, he or she will be enrolled for the same and provided another possible means of identification for availing of such benefits and subsidy.Aadhaar Linking Deadline Extended; Still You Will Require It At These Places
Services that currently stand exempted from mandatory Aadhaar linking
As per the UIDAI tweet, until further clarification is made, these are some of the documents and services for which mandatory linking with aadhaar by March 31, 2018 has been relaxed for now.
1. PAN card
2. Existing bank accounts
3. Passports
4. Mobile sim
5. Insurance, mutual funds, small saving scheme, EPF, demat account etc
Aadhaar Linking Deadline Extended; Still You Will Require It At These Places
Services where you still will need Aadhaar
1. Opening new bank account
2. Applying for tatkal passport
3. Availing government subsidies and welfare schemes
4. For securing scholarships.
