Aadhaar Delinking: Companies Are Still Asking To Send Digital Copies; Confusion Continues!
Even after Supreme Court verdict, private companies are still asking for Aadhaar details.
The Supreme court Aadhaar verdict is out, and yes, it’s no more mandatory to have an Aadhaar for a bank account or mobile wallet or even your mobile number.
The Supreme court said the Aadhaar is constitutionally valid, but to be used it as a biometric identity will come with certain conditions.
The section 57 of the Aadhaar Act has been struck down, so private companies no more can ask customers for their unique Aadhaar ID number. But, app services are surprisingly asking for digital copies of Aadhaar to delete previous Aadhaar details.
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App Based Services Are Still Asking For Aadhaar Digital Copies
According to a newspaper report, after delinking your Aadhaar with Paytm, the company is still asking for an Aadhaar picture. As per the report, Paytm sent an email to delink the Aadhaar. After doing it, they sent a message asking for a clear picture of the updated Aadhaar card.
Sending a digital copy of the Aadhaar means sharing the details again, and how does this comply with the new SC ruling?
You can delink your Aadhaar from any company or app-based services. The process includes calling the customer care, confirming your details and they will send you an email to delink. But, at the same time, they are asking to send a picture of your Aadhaar card.
The mail says they will confirm within 72 hours that the Aadhaar has been delinked. But, are they deleting the pictures? What is happening to the digital copy of the Aadhaar?
Companies are yet to clarify why are they asking for the digital copies of Aadhaar, and what will happen to them after you send a picture of your Aadhaar.
If we still have to send Aadhaar digital copies, the whole purpose of data privacy and the SC verdict makes no sense.
Getting Your Details Back
You can now contact your bank or your telecom provider, mobile wallets and any other private company which has your Aadhaar details to erase them. According to the new ruling, a person has the right to use his data as per his liking, and cannot be stored without his consent.
Companies can no more ask for Aadhaar details or consider it as a legal document to verify a user.
Earlier several schools in the country mandated Aadhaar for Admission process and it is considered as a legal document to verify the candidate. Well, no more!
The court has cleared it out that Aadhaar is not mandatory for any school admission.
So, any state board, CBSE, UGC and NET cannot ask for any Aadhaar details from any student for their admission.
You Will Still Need Aadhaar For ITR
The Supreme court has cleared out that Aadhaar will still be mandatory for ITR. Your PAN and Aadhaar have to be linked and the details have to be provided for Income Tax filing.
The step seems positive given that it will help the government to track down any illegal income, or if there’s any discrepancy on an individual account.
Mobile Wallets Will Still Need KYC
Mobile wallets cannot ask for only Aadhaar anymore. But that doesn’t mean the RBI KYC ruling for KYC wallets has been lifted. You will still need to do your KYC to keep using your mobile wallet.
The ruling only says that companies no more can ask Aadhaar as the only valid legal document.
The KYC process for mobile wallets will now include all legal documents, and you can use any one of them to verify your account.
