UFBU
18:04
Showing posts with label aadhaar Card. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aadhaar Card. Show all posts
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Friday, 13 April 2018
Thursday, 5 April 2018
Bank Fraud
17:55
Aadhaar cannot stop bank frauds: Supreme Court
Aadhaar cannot stop bank frauds: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that Aadhaar cannot stop bank frauds, adding, officials seemingly are hand in glove with the fraudsters.
The top court's five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, also observed that the Aadhaar can do little to stop it.
The Central government has made it mandatory for all financial institutions, including banks, to verify and link Aadhaar of the customers with their accounts.
Saturday, 31 March 2018
PAN NUMBER
22:46
No Last date Yet for Aadhar Link with PAN,Bank Accounts
No Last date Yet for Aadhar Link with PAN,Bank Accounts
New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) Government has extended the dates for indefinite period for linking Aadhar and Permanent Account number (PAN) with bank accounts of account holders.
The notification issued on Saturday said, “Whereas the Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its interim order dated 13th March, 2018 in the case of Justice KS Puttaswamy (Retd.) & Anr. V. Union of India, W.P. (Civil) 494/2012 etc. (Aadhaar Cases), has extended the last date for linking Aadhaar with existing bank accounts from 31.03.2018 till the final judgement of the case.
Monday, 12 March 2018
uidai
07:34
Bank Employees News: Aadhaar work to expose bank employees to risks: C H Venkatachalam
Bank Employees News: Aadhaar work to expose bank employees to risks: C H Venkatachalam
The facility of issuance of Aadhaar card from certain bank branches will increase the work pressure on the employees and expose them to avoidable risks and accountability, according to bank employees association.
This work does not fall under the jurisdiction of banks and is not the job of banks and bank employees, said C H Venkatachalam, general secretary, All India Banks Employees Association (AIBEA), in a letter dated March 1, 2018.
“Bank employees in many branches are facing undue work pressure due to inadequate staff and already many services of the government departments have been put on the shoulders of the banks. Adding these (Aadhaar) type of jobs will create more work pressure and expose the employees to avoidable risks and accountability,” he said in a letter to the chief executive of Indian Banks’ Association.
Venkatachalam referred to a letter dated October 19, 2017, with regard to instructions given by bank managements advising employees to undertake work in relation to issuing Aadhaar cards to the public.
We were given to understand that the matter is being pursued with the finance ministry and UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) but we haven’t heard anything so far, he said, requesting that the matter be taken up with appropriate authorities suitably.
“We are advising our members in the concerned banks not to undertake this work,” he said.
A few months back, UIDAI, the Aadhaar-issuing authority, ended its contract with CSC e-Governance Services and other third-party private agencies for enrollment and updation of Aadhaar cards after issues of leakage of data.
Subsequently, post offices and banks have been asked to undertake the work, apart from government offices. Certain bank branches have formed special cells for Aadhaar enrollment.
Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, CEO, CSC e-Governance Services, in a recent interview with DNA Money had strongly refuted the allegations saying CSCs have nothing to do with the leak of the Aadhaar data.
Source:DNA
Thursday, 7 December 2017
Monday, 23 October 2017
Sunday, 13 August 2017
State Bank of India
09:41
Update Aadhaar Card Details to Your SBI Savings Account -NDTV
Update Aadhaar Card Details to Your SBI Savings Account -NDTV
Aadhaar Card Linking With SBI Bank Account: 4 Ways To Do It
The government of India has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar card to your bank account.
The government of India has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar card to your bank account. According to the new rules, all existing bank account holders have to link their bank account to their Aadhaar within December 31, 2017. State Bank of India or SBI, India's biggest lender, offers many options to its savings bank account holders to seed their account with Aadhaar number. SBI users have the option to upload their Aadhaar details online or through SMS in a particular format or by visiting the branch. SBI is also allowing customers to link their Aadhaar number to their bank account at an ATM.
Here are different ways through which you can update your Aadhaar number to your bank account:
Aadhaar linking through SBI internet banking portal
If you are an internet banking user, then you can log into www.onlinesbi.com and access the link "Link your Aadhaar number" under "My Accounts", appearing on the left panel of the screen
On clicking the above link, you will be directed to a screen where you have to select the account number, input the Aadhaar number and click on Submit
The last 2 digits of registered mobile number (non-editable) will be displayed to the customer
Status of mapping will be intimated to the customer's registered mobile number.
Aadhaar Linking through SBI ATM channel
You can access any of SBI's ATMs and seed your Aadhaar with your Bank account.
After swiping the ATM card and entering your PIN, select the menu "Service - Registrations"
In this menu, select Aadhaar Registration
You can now select the account type after which you will be asked to enter your Aadhaar number. You will be prompted to re-enter the same.
Aadhaar Linking through SMS
If your mobile number is registered with the bank, then you can send SMS to 567676 in the following format UID (space) Aadhaar number (space) Account number
If the mobile number is not registered or in case the Aadhaar is already linked to account, an SMS reply will be sent to you
If your mobile number is registered with the bank, you will receive an SMS confirmation of the seeding request
The Aadhaar number will be verified by SBI with UIDAI. In case it fails verification, SMS will be sent to customer to contact any SBI branch along with Aadhaar number or e-aadhaar.
Aadhaar Linking through SBI branch channel
A customer can visits any SBI branch with a copy of his/her Aadhaar number or e-aadhaar
After necessary verification, the linking will be done by the branch. An SMS will be sent to customer's registered mobile number regarding the status of seeding.
Source:NDTV
Saturday, 15 July 2017
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
State Bank of India
07:25
Aadhaar Number Mandatory For Recruitment Processes-State Bank Of India
Aadhaar Number Mandatory For Recruitment Processes-State Bank Of India
Going alongside the major recruiting bodies of the country, State Bank of India (SBI) is also likely to make Aadhaar number mandatory for all recruitment processes.
NEW DELHI: Going alongside the major recruiting bodies of the country, State Bank of India (SBI) is also likely to make Aadhaar number mandatory for all recruitment processes. The proposal will most probably be implemented from 1 July 2017. 'State Bank of India (SBI) propose to introduce the scheme of verifying the identity of candidates applying for all its recruitment processes through Aadhaar cards w.e.f. 1 st July 2017,' reads the official notification released by the biggest nationalized banks of the country.
SBI Recruitment 2017: Guidelines For Applicants
Provide your Aadhaar number (12 digit number usually; alternatively Aadhaar enrolment ID can be given in case candidate has applied for the number but has not received yet)
Applicants from the States of Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya and Assam can use the usual ID proofs (but as specified in the SBI job notification), instead of Aadhaar
'Ascertaining the identities of candidates is critical for fair conduct of recruitment process and prevention of impersonation.'
SBI recruitment is one of the most sought after options for government job aspirants. Every year, the Bank conducts recruitments and witnesses overwhelming response and receives applications close to 10 times the number of vacancies. By making Aadhaar number mandatory, SBI will ensure a fair and transparent recruitment process by authenticating the identity of candidates.
Ongoing SBI recruitments are for special management executive posts, specialists posts in marketing department and specialist cadre officer post.
Source:NDTV
Friday, 28 April 2017
TAXES
07:40
Issue of Pension Payment by Banks: New Checklist for audit of Systems and Controls for conduct of government banking
Issue of Pension Payment by Banks: New Checklist for audit of Systems and Controls for conduct of government banking
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
www.rbi.org.in
RBI/2016-17/271
DGBA.GAD.No.2646/31.02.007/2016-17
April 7, 2017
All Agency Banks
Dear Sir/Madam,
Systems and Controls for conduct of government banking
Please refer to our Master Circulars DGBA.GAD.No.2/31.12.010/2015-16 dated July 1, 2015 on Conduct of Government Business by Agency Banks – Payment of Agency Commission and DGBA.GAD.No.H-1/31.05.001/2015-16 dated July 1, 2015 on Disbursement of Government Pension by Agency Banks that, inter alia, deal with Systems and Controls in agency banks for conduct of government banking.
In addition to existing instructions, agency banks may ensure that internal/concurrent audit at bank branches verifies whether government business is being conducted as per rules and regulations prescribed by government/RBI. Accordingly, the internal/concurrent audit at bank branches may also examine, among other things, various aspects of government banking such as agency commission claims and pension payments. A checklist may be provided to the inspecting officers/auditors, which may at a minimum include the items given in the Annex. Accordingly, Annex 2 of the Master Circular DGBA.GAD.No.H-1/31.05.001/2015-16 on Disbursement of Government Pension by Agency Banks dated July 1, 2015 stands withdrawn.
Yours faithfully,
(D. J. Babu)
Deputy General Manager
Annex
Checklist relating to government business for internal / concurrent audit
Part B: Pension related issues
Internal inspections should assess branch performance in servicing pensioner customers. In this regard, the following may be ensured:
A specific questionnaire covering all aspects of pension payment may be devised for use during inspection of pension paying branches.
Inspecting officers may also, during inspections, call up pensioners at random and enquire about their satisfaction with pension-related services.
A detailed check-list relating to pension payments/government business may be given by banks to internal auditors/inspectors in order to adhere to the recommendations of the Prabhakar Rao Committee, constituted by the Government of India, relating to pension payments/government business.
These include the following:
(a) Whether there is delay in payment of pension, revision of pension, revision in dearness relief etc.
(b) Whether the branch manager has structured interaction with a cross section of pensioners serviced at the branch on quarterly basis, where the number of pensioners of all governments and departments exceeds a fixed number, say, 100 or 200.
(c) Whether nominations have been obtained for all pension accounts.
(d) Whether pension accounts have been converted into joint accounts wherever applicable.
(e) Whether the bank branch has an effective complaint redressal mechanism and the complaints of pensioners are attended promptly and their grievances redressed expeditiously.
(f) Whether the pension is credited to pensioner’s account during the last four working days of the month except for the month of March for which pension is to be credited on or after first working day of April.
(g) Whether the pension paying branch obtains Life Certificate/ Non-employment certificate/ Employment Certificate from the pensioners in the month of November every year.
(h) Whether pension paying branches deduct income tax at source from pension payments wherever applicable.
(i) Whether paper tokens in acknowledgement of cheques presented are invariably given by the tax collecting branches.
(j) Whether the challans are stamped giving bank’s BSR code and Challan Identification Number (CIN) clearly.
(k) Whether the stamped challans are kept in the custody of bank’s staff and handed over to the concerned tax payer only on production of the paper token.
(Source :http://ex-servicemenwelfare.blogspot.in/)
Saturday, 15 April 2017
KY Principles
09:19
Your Bank, other financial accounts may be blocked if you don't link them with Aadhar by 30th April.
Your Bank, other financial accounts may be blocked if you don't link them with Aadhar by 30th April.
Accounts opened from July 2014 to August, 2015 will have to submit know your customer (KYC) details and their Aadhaar number to banks and financial institutions by April 30 and self-certify them to comply with FATCA regulations (Foreign Tax Compliance Act), the tax department said on Tuesday.
In case the account holders are unable to furnish details and provide self-certification by the new deadline, banks and financial institutions have the option of blocking the accounts.
Once the details are furnished they can operate the accounts. The provision applies to accounts which come under the ambit of FATCA regulations.
Banks and financial institutions were asked to obtain self-certification and carry out due diligence for all individual and entity accounts opened from July 1, 2014 to August 31, 2015 to comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) pact signed by India and the United States.
In July 2015, India and the US signed a tax information sharing agreement under a new US law, FATCA, aimed at bolstering efforts for automatic exchange of financial information between the two nations about tax evaders.
"The account holders may be informed that, in case self-certifications are not provided till April 30, 2017, the accounts would be blocked, which would mean that the financial institution would prohibit the account holder from effecting any transaction with respect to such accounts," the tax department said in a statement.
Tax officials said that the accounts would include banks, insurance, stocks. Account holders will also have to mention their Aadhaar numbers.
Source:-FNPO
Tuesday, 4 April 2017
MSME
05:27
Udyog Aadhar Registration
Udyog Aadhar Registration
The Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has been crucial to India’s development over the past five decades. Other than providing large employment opportunities at lower capital cost, MSMEs also aid in industrialisation of rural and backward areas. This helps reduce regional imbalances, assuring a more effective equitable distribution of national income and wealth.
State governments are responsible for promotion and development of MSMEs, though the Government of India does announce various initiatives, too. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act was notified in 2006 to provide subsidies and exemptions to MSMEs. According to the Act, all enterprises are to register, but most enterprises are not because of the paperwork involved. This is despite the significant benefits available. The ministry, therefore, in 2015, decided to put in place the Udyog Aadhaar, which ensures easy registration and a wider coverage of MSMEs to avail of the benefits under various central and state-run schemes.
For this reason, an Udyog Aadhaar (UA) has been introduced for running units. Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM) can be created online at http://udyogaadhaar.gov.in.
Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM)
An UAM is a one-page registration form in which the MSME self certifies its existence, bank account details, owner/promoter’s Aadhar details and other requisite information. This is free of cost.
Once the form is submitted, an acknowledgment form is released to the email ID containing a unique Udyog Aadhaar Number (UAN).
Since this a self declaration form, there is no supporting document that is required to be uploaded or submitted. That said, any state or central authority can ask for any documentation as proof of the information provided in the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum.
Details For Online Udyog Aadhaar Form
- Aadhaar Number 12-digit Aadhaar number issued to the applicant should be filled.
- Name of Owner The applicant should fill his/her name strictly as mentioned on the Aadhaar Card issued by UIDAI.
- Validate Aadhar The applicant must click on Validate Aadhaar button for verification of Aadhaar. This is required for the user to continue with his/her form.
- Reset The applicant can click on reset button to clear the field of Aadhaar No. and name of the owner for different Aadhaar.
- Social Category The applicant may select any of the categories thus mentioned: General, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Castes (OBC). The proof of the same may be asked, if and when required.
- Name of Enterprise This name must be the same as the applicant wants his/her enterprise to be known in public as a legal entity. It is to be noted that one applicant can have more than one enterprise registered in his/her name with the same Aadhar number.
- Type of Organization The applicant may select from the given list the appropriate type of the organisation for his/her enterprise. Only one UAN will be issued for each enterprise.
- Postal Address The complete postal address of the enterprise including state, district, pin code, mobile number and email must be filed in.
- Date of Commencement This is to be the date of the start of the operations for the business entity.
- Previous Registration Details If the applicant’s enterprise, for which the UAN is being applied, is already issued a valid EM-I/II by the concerned GM (DIC) as per the MSMED Act 2006 or the SSI registration prevailing prior to the said Act, such a number must be mentioned in the appropriate place.
- Bank Details The applicant must provide his /her bank account detail that is used for running the business. The details include the account number, bank branch, IFSC. All details can be found out on the account holder’s cheque book or can also be found out from the concerned bank directly.
- Major Activity The major activity i.e. either “Manufacturing” or “Service” must be chosen by the enterprise for Udyog Aadhaar. Now say if you engage in both, but manufacturing happens to take over a chunk of your business, then please mention manufacturing as a major activity, and vice versa if its services.
- National Industry Classification Code (NIC Code) The Applicant may choose multiple National Industrial Classification-2008 (NIC) Codes to includes all their activities. This means that the user can select multiple NIC code of Manufacturing and Service sector by clicking “Add More” button. If you want to add Manufacturing then select “Manufacturing” radiobutton and continue by clicking “Add More” button. The procedure is the same if you want to do it for services. These codes are prepared by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Program implementation, Government of India.
- Person employed The total number of people who are directly paid for their work by the enterprise must be mentioned.
- lnvestment in Plant & Machinery/Equipment When asked to calculate the total investment, the original one( purchase value of items) is to be taken into account excluding the cost of pollution control, research and development, industrial safety devices, and such other items as may be specified, by notification of RBI..
- DIC The applicant, based on the location of the enterprise, has to fill in location of DIC. This section will be active and show an option only when there is a chance of more than one DIC existing in the district. Say if there is just one DIC, then you’ll be automatically be made part of that.
- Submit Hit submit to generate the acknowledgment number.
Source:URL
https://vakilsearch.com/advice/udyog-aadhar-registration/
Friday, 24 March 2017
volume of transactions
16:01
South Indian Bank introduces Aadhar-based payment app
South Indian Bank introduces Aadhar-based payment app
KOCHI, MARCH 23:
To promote cashless digital transactions, South Indian Bank has introduced Aadhar-based payment in its UPI mobile application- SIB M-Pay.
Unified Payment Interface enables all bank account holders to send and receive money from their Smartphone without entering the bank account information. Even non-customers of South Indian Bank can link any of their bank account in this mobile application. Currently, the fund transfer is possible only if the Virtual Address (UPI ID) of the beneficiary is known to the user. With the latest addition in SIB M-Pay, the fund transfers can be done by just entering the Aadhar number of the beneficiary. The amount will be credited directly to the beneficiary’s Aadhar linked bank account. SIB M-Pay app is currently available in Android Playstore.
Aadhar based payment in South Indian Bank's SIB M-Pay will be a major step in offering simple and efficient payment methods, as the country moves towards a 'Cashless Society' and Aadhar ID plays a key role in Digital India initiatives, said V G Mathew, MD & CEO of the bank.
Source:The Hindu
volume of transactions
15:50
PAN to lose its validity? Aadhaar may replace PAN for individuals in future
PAN to lose its validity? Aadhaar may replace PAN for individuals in future
However, the income-tax department does not have any timeframe as of now for phasing out PAN
Permanent account numbers (PAN) may be phased out in the future for individuals, but such numbers may remain there for companies.
An official said there is a possibility in the future when Aadhaar card may become the sole identity card for citizens.
However, the income-tax department does not have any time frame as of now to phase out PANs.
The Finance Bill, approved by Parliament, will make Aadhaar cards mandatory for filing income tax returns and applying for permanent account number (PAN).
Replying to a debate over the finance Bill in Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said it might become the only identity card and may replace PAN and voter identity card in the future.
In fact, Mohammed Salim of CPI (M) had raised this issue and expressed wonder as to why Aadhaar number can't be used for all the purposes to even replace PAN.
To this, the finance minister had said, "A stage may come when unique identity card (Aadhaar) may become the sole card. There are many countries where such a situation exists. There is a social security number in America and in India it (Aadhaar) could be the counterpart."
Making Aadhaar mandatory for I-T returns would plug the loopholes of duplicate PANs used by some assessees to hide their identities.
As many as 98 per cent adults in the country have Aadhaar cards or have applied for the same and the technology should be used to curb tax evasion.
The government finds it appropriate to use Aadhaar for anti-evasion as some assessees are using five PANs each to dodge the system and evade taxes.
Bhartruhari Mahtab of Biju Janata Dal had referred to the Supreme Court's ruling last year that Aadhaar is not mandatory and wanted to know whether the government was "forcing" people to have it.
"Yes, we are," Jaitley had said, adding, "If the technology, which has a network of 1.08 billion people and all tax-paying households have it, and they give it along with their ITR, then the scope for fraud and tax evasion comes down."
Aadhaar has biometric details, so its chances of misuse become minimal, the finance minister had said.
"When the country has so much technology, and when it is being put to use, then why create such a hue and cry about it? It is an anti-evasion measure which will benefit the country. So the government considers it right to implement it," he had said.
Jaitley said the UIDAI had been conceptualised by the previous UPA dispensation and the NDA government is putting it to use with 98 per cent adults or more than 108 crore people in India having been issued Aadhaar number.
"We have kept a provision that a person who does not have Aadhaar can say I have applied for Aadhaar. We can't allow people to say I will not make Aadhaar, but through multiple PAN cards will continue to evade taxes," he said.
Source:Business Standard
Thursday, 9 March 2017
IDFC
13:51
IDFC Aadhaar Pay, the country’s first Aadhaar-linked cashless merchant solution
IDFC Aadhaar Pay, the country’s first Aadhaar-linked cashless merchant solution
IDFC Bank takes the lead, launches Aadhaar Pay
Dr Ajay Pandey, CEO,UIDAI, Dr. Rajiv Lall, Founder, MD & CEO, IDFC Bank, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog and Aruna Sundarajan, Secretary Electronics & IT (L to R ) during the launch of IDFC Aadhaar Pay , in New Delhi on Tuesday. - Photo by Kamal Narang | BusinessLine
IDFC Aadhaar Pay, the country’s first Aadhaar-linked cashless merchant solution, was officially launched on Tuesday, following successful pilots across 16 States.
Speaking at the launch event, Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog, said IDFC Bank had set the trend and all other banks should now roll out a similar facility.
“You will not need micro-ATMs anymore in the country. Anybody with a mobile phone and small dongle can turn into a merchant for everyone else and start accepting payments,” he said.
Kant highlighted that the IDFC Aadhaar Pay was significant as it was not charging any merchant discount rate, which was a pain-point for merchants.
“IDFC Bank will have winner’s advantage. Other banks should follow IDFC in on-boarding merchants throughout the country. If they do not follow the lead that IDFC has set, technology will make them redundant,” Kant said.
He said the IDFC Aadhaar Pay launch was significant as it would “enable us to reach the bottom of the pyramid” where people do not have either GSM or mobile phone.
Given the slew of innovative measures taken in the last few months, India is poised to take a major leap towards financial inclusion and revolution in the coming days, Kant added.
Rajiv Lall, Founder Managing Director and CEO, IDFC Bank, said the launch (of IDFC Aadhaar Pay) was an important milestone in the journey to financial inclusion.
He pointed out that all the innovation that one had read about recently was focussed on that segment of population that had smart-phones. Only 350 million have smart-phones out of the total population have 1.2 billion. “The differentiating feature of the Aadhaar Pay technology that we are launching officially today is that it makes cashless transactions possible even to people who have no phones,” he said
Individuals with Aadhaar-seeded savings accounts in any bank can transact on IDFC Aadhaar Pay using fingerprint as digital identity to make cashless payments at merchant points.
Over the next 36 months, IDFC Bank will look to on-board as many as one lakh merchants across the country to its IDFC Aadhaar Pay solution, Lall said.
In the pilot phase spanning three months, over 1,500 merchants have enabled digital transactions for customers of all banks, using IDFC Aadhaar Pay on their smart-phones.
How it works?
IDFC Aadhaar Pay is an Aadhaar-linked interoperable banking software application developed by IDFC Bank. This app is made available on a merchant’s smart-phone. Customers can pay the merchant by selecting the bank’s name and filling only one field on the merchant’s phone — the Aadhaar number. The customer’s fingerprint is the password used to authenticate the transaction.
Customers need not use debit or credit cards, download mobile applications or even carry a mobile to make cashless transactions. This solution eliminates the hassles of remembering passwords, account numbers, setting up virtual payment addresses and using USSD codes to transfer money.
Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT, lauded IDFC Bank for this pioneering initiative, stating that it signalled a paradigm change in the financial inclusion journey.
Describing the launch of IDFC Aadhaar Pay as “historic”, Sundararajan said this is equal liberation for the merchant. “We are truly hoping that hundreds of thousands of merchants will benefit and easily accept digital payments,” she added.
Srivats.Kr@thehindu.co.in
Source:BL
Tuesday, 7 March 2017
Saturday, 4 March 2017
non-cash Payments
06:27
Irregular Transactions by storing biometrics, criminal complaint against Axis Bank
Irregular Transactions by storing biometrics, criminal complaint against Axis Bank
Even Aadhaar sceptics would do well to keep in mind that, while a criminal complaint has been filed against Axis Bank, Suvidhaa Infoserve and eMudhra for allegedly storing biometrics and using them in an unauthorised manner, it was UIDAI that discovered the irregular transactions and reported them to the Delhi Police’s cyber cell and, pending a probe, all transaction requests from these organisations have been put on hold. If the UIDAI system is able to detect fraud, as the banks did when they found millions of debit/credit cards had been compromised due to a faulty ‘switch’ in a payments gateway some months ago in India, presumably that would mean it was working well.
Under normal circumstances, as a safety feature, every time a transaction is made like withdrawing funds from a bank and UIDAI replies to an authentication request, an SMS/email alert is sent to the subscriber.
So, why didn’t UIDAI send out alerts this time around when, going by a report in The Times of India, one individual performed 397 transactions, many of which were based on biometrics that were ‘stored’ locally and bunched during one week in January? Is this an example of Aadhaar being open to misuse since banks, etc, can store your biometrics and use them to illegally authorise transactions later? There have also been reports of one website publishing Aadhaar data of 500,000 minors—this, of course, is a list of names and matching Aadhaar numbers, but does not have actual biometrics—and of white-hat hackers generating iris scans from high-resolution photographs and even the possibility of data being compromised since Aadhaar registrations/verifications are typically done by several private firms.
First, as UIDAI officials point out, since the individual doing the transactions was using his own Aadhaar number, the alerts went to him—to that extent, the system’s first fail-safe worked. Had the stored biometrics belonged to someone else, say a reader of this newspaper, she would have got the SMS/email alerts and would have escalated matters. Two, since the authentication request, and the reply, are encrypted at a 2048-bit level—normal encryption levels are 128 or 256—UIDAI officials argue this makes the system very safe from hacking. But what of cases where the biometrics are stolen, or generated from high-resolution photographs, and then stored locally? Since security has to be an evolving feature, designed to beat threats as they occur or before they do, UIDAI plans to introduce the concept of ‘registered devices’.
Source:Financial Express
