by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz
New Delhi : Shashi Arora, CEO and Managing Director of Airtel Payments Bank, has stepped down, the company announced on Friday – nearly a week after the Unique Identification Authority of India, (UIDAI) suspended its Aadhaar linked e-KYC services because of alleged misuse.
“Shashi Arora has been associated with Airtel in senior leadership roles since 2006. He has been an asset for Airtel and over the years has contributed to the company’s growth story,” Airtel said in a statement here on Friday, without mentioning the suspension. Airtel’s e-KYC facility was partly restored by UIDAI on Thursday.
“Having led the operations in key telecom circles followed by building a strong DTH (direct-to-home) business, he has laid the foundation for Airtel’s Payments Bank operations. Shashi has decided to move on to pursue opportunities outside of Airtel. We wish Shashi the very best for his future endeavours,” the statement added.
The company is yet to name Arora’s successor.
The UIDAI’s interim order on December 16 had come after some customers of the telecom major alleged that the company had, without their consent, opened their bank account in Airtel Payments Bank when they used the “Aadhaar linked e-KYC services”.
The Aadhaar-linked e-KYC service of UIDAI provides an instant, electronic, non-repudiable proof of identity and proof of address along with date of birth and gender, resident’s mobile number and email address to the service provider.
It was alleged that at the time of mobile verification using Aadhaar e-KYC, the Airtel retailers were also opening Airtel Payments Bank accounts without “informed consent” of the customers.
Even LPG subsidy by the government was also getting transferred to these Airtel Payments Bank accounts, without the knowledge of the customers.
Following the suspension of licence, Bharti Airtel was reported to have deposited a penalty of Rs 2.5 crore with the UIDAI for alleged violation of rules on using Aadhaar-based e-KYC services. The payments bank was also reported to have returned the subsidy amount credited to its customers’ accounts.
On Thursday, Airtel was allowed to use Aadhaar to verify its mobile phone customers till January 10. However, the company’s e-KYC key remains suspended till UIDAI gets a final report on the probe it has ordered into the misuse.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : A survey participated in by 20,000 people has revealed that a majority of them were not comfortable linking their Aadhaar numbers with ecommerce sites and mobile wallets.
In the survey conducted by citizen engagement platform LocalCircles, 61 per cent said they would not be comfortable in linking their Aadhaar number with their eCommerce site accounts while 30 per cent said they were fine with it.
When asked if they would be comfortable in linking their Aadhaar number with their payment wallet accounts, 49 per cent said no, 33 per cent said yes, while 18 per cent were neutral.
The next question asked consumers if they have been approached to link their Aadhaar with their credit card, insurance policy or mutual fund account.
In response, 77 per cent said they have been approached while 18 per cent said no.
Citizens have expressed strong concerns about their Aadhaar data being leaked or hacked as a result of linking their Aadhaar with private operators, LocalCircles said in a statement.
A related poll asked citizens if there should be a financial penalty for banks, telecom providers or any other organizations that compromise their Aadhaar, bank or call transaction details, to which 94 per cent replied in an affirmative.
They said that in case of data leakage, the respective bank or telecom operator should be severely penalised to ensure that they keep the data security measure to the optimum levels.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Chennai : India’s insurance regulator on Monday extended the time to link Aadhaar number to insurance policies till March 31, 2018.
In a circular issued on Monday to all the life, non-life (including standalone health insurers) the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said the date of submission of the Aadhaar Number and Permanent Account Number or Form 60 by clients to reporting entity is March 31, 2018.
The Irdai cited the central government’s gazette notification on December 13, relating to Prevention of Money-Laundering (Maintenance of Records) (Seventh Amendment) Rules, 2017.
On November 8, the Irdai had directed the insurers to link Aadhaar and Pan Card numbers with insurance policies.
“These rules have statutory force and, as such, life and general insurers (including standalone health insurers) have to implement them without awaiting further instructions,” the Irdai had said in a statement.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Markets, Networking, Online Marketing, Technology
New Delhi : The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has temporarily suspended telecom major Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payment Bank’s “Aadhaar linked e-KYC” services, a company statement said on Saturday.
“We can confirm that we have received interim order from the UIDAI regarding temporary suspension of Aadhaar linked e-KYC services till their satisfaction on certain processes relating to Airtel Payment Bank’s onboarding of customers,” the company said in a statement.
“We are engaging with the authority and are hopeful of an early resolution. We are also undertaking to complete the said actions on priority and have commenced thorough checks of our process flows. Being compliant to all guidelines is paramount to us.”
The “Aadhaar linked e-KYC” service of UIDAI provides an instant, electronic, non-repudiable proof of identity and proof of address along with date of birth and gender, resident’s mobile number and email address to the service provider.
Aadhaar authentication and e-KYC services are available to different sectors and government organisations under a license.
Bharti Airtel uses the Aadhaar data base for the purposes of mobile services KYC under a license agreement, while Airtel Payments Bank which is a separate entity is an authorised KYC User Agency (KUA) and Authentication User Agency (AUA) of UIDAI.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Networking, News, Politics, Technology
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Friday extended the deadline for linking of Aadhaar to various government schemes, as also mobile phones and bank accounts from December 31 to March 31, 2018.
However, the Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said that those who did not have an Aadhaar number but were opening bank accounts would have to furnish their enrollment numbers for the unique id.
The interim order would be subject to the final outcome of the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act on the grounds of it violating the fundamental right to privacy.
The next hearing would take place on January 17, 2018.
—IANS
