3-year jail for impersonation, giving false info to UIDAI

To secure data gathered by Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) for Aadhaar, the unique identification number project, the government has proposed three years imprisonment and a fine in the range of Rs10,000 to Rs1 lakh for impersonation, giving false demographic details and illegal transfer of information. 

The government posted a draft bill to the effect on Tuesday and sought suggestions from the public. To become law, the bill needs to be passed by both Houses of parliament.

UIDAI, led by former Infosys Technologies CEO Nandan Nilekani, is gearing up to roll out the first batch of electronic cards by yearend.

It plans to cover 600 million people in the next five years, but according to the draft bill, Aadhaar shall extend to the whole of India, except Jammu and Kashmir.

The security of the data collected for Aadhaar is a major issue. To ensure smooth coordination between the states and the Centre in implementing Aadhaar, the bill proposes that UIDAI enter into a memorandum of understanding with the central and state governments for collecting, storing, securing or processing information.

According to the draft bill, the government will constitute a national identification authority fund, as the estimated cost of providing unique identification numbers to the whole country will be upwards of Rs15,000 crore.

Aadhaar will have a three-member review committee, the members of which will be appointed by a panel headed by the prime minister and comprise the leader of the opposition and a Union cabinet minister. The members will not be MPs or MLAs.

The Centre will also appoint a CEO, not below the rank of an additional secretary to the government, who will be member-secretary of UIDAI.