The Centre on Wednesday introduced a Bill in Parliament that propose amendments to various laws that govern the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)'s Aadhaar system. The move came after a Supreme Court verdict earlier curtailed the biometric authentication programme. The Aadhaar And Other Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018, which was approved by the cabinet two weeks ago was introduced in Lok Sabha by IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad amidst sharp criticism from Opposition benches, who said the proposed law has failed to address privacy issues. The government has proposed a penalty of up to Rs 1 crore on entities that violate the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, with an additional fine of up to Rs. 10 lakh per day in case of continuous non-compliance.
The provisions include to make the biometric scheme voluntary, and options to cancel Aadhaar numbers when one turns 18. The most controversial change, however, are two proposed amendments to the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The amendments will allow banks and telecom operators to continue using voluntary Aadhaar authentication as a means of linking Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts and mobile SIM cards. When Prasad introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, it drew sharp criticism from opposition party members. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said it would enable "private organisations to get Aadhaar details which are in violation of the Supreme Court judgment" and that it failed to protect the right to privacy.
RSP's NK Premchandran said: "The original Aadhaar definition has been changed… since it is in violation of Supreme Court judgment, I strongly oppose the Bill."
A new sub-section under Section 4 of the Aadhaar Act will now include the sentence: "Every Aadhaar number holder to establish his identity, may voluntarily use his Aadhaar number in physical or electronic form by way of authentication or offline verification, or in such other form as may be notified, in such manner as may be specified by regulations." (emphasis added).
Amending Telegraph and PMLA Act are seen as the biggest changes. The Supreme Court verdict struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, which meant that technically speaking, no private entity could carry out Aadhaar authentication. This, legal experts said at the time, signalled the effective death of what is known as 'e-KYC' or electronic-Know-Your-Customer technology. But the Bill has allowed banks and telecom operators to continue to link Aadhaar to bank accounts and mobile SIM cards (and use Aadhaar authentication). The only caveat is that this should be done on a "voluntary basis" and allow for "other modes of identification".
The Bill also contains amendments that sanction the creation and use of offline verification tools for Aadhaar. These methods, which include QR codes, do not require Aadhaar authentication, sharing of Aadhaar numbers or involve UIDAI's servers.
The proposed legislation also gives greater regulatory powers to the UIDAI to issue directions to any "entity in the Aadhaar ecosystem", as well as enhance "restrictions on the sharing of information by requesting entity". The amendments also crucially give the Aadhaar body power to levy civil penalties.
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RSP's NK Premchandran said: "The original Aadhaar definition has been changed… since it is in violation of Supreme Court judgment, I strongly oppose the Bill."
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