New Delhi: Speculating obstructions in the delivery of welfare scheme benefits, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has asked the banks not to discontinue the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS).
This comes after UIDAI took note of a letter from the State Bank of India (SBI) to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). In the latter, SBI had asked for permission to the NPCI for discontinuation of AEPS as it violates the Supreme Court’s recent verdict on Aadhar based bank payments.
UIDAI stated that the issue has been carefully examined. The court has upheld the constitutionality of the Aadhaar programme, specifically Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act. “Therefore any action to discontinue such payment/receipt mechanism (AEPS, BHIM, Aadhaar Pay) or bank accounts by banks, on the ground that it is not possible to distinguish their use for delivery of welfare benefits or other purposes may be held contrary to Section 7 of Aadhaar Act and Puttaswamy-II judgment as it will result in creating obstruction in delivery of benefits and may cause denial in deserving cases,” said the UIDAI
Note worthy, in a landmark judgement in September, the Supreme Court regulated the use of Aadhaar authentication by private entities in the absence of a legal provision. However, it allowed Aadhar’s mandatory use for welfare schemes, filing of Income Tax (IT) returns and allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN).
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