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 | 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 | Banking, Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance, Economy, Finance, Marketing Basics, Markets, News, Online Marketing, Politics, Technology
New Delhi : Taking cognizance of complaints by cooking gas customers of non-credit of their LPG subsidy, the government on Friday said that these were mainly from customers of Airtel payments bank and that the subsidy amount had been credited to their respective accounts.
“It is found that these complaints mainly pertain to those LPG consumers who are Airtel customers and have opened account in Airtel payment bank,” a Petroleum Ministry release said here.
“It is clarified that the LPG subsidy of these Airtel customers has already been credited to their newly opened Airtel payment bank account seeded with Aadhaar,” it said.
“It may be noted that as per subsidy transfer protocol, the LPG subsidy is transferred to the (latest) bank account of the beneficiary seeded with their Aadhaar,” the statement added.
Telecom major Airtel has recently ventured into payment bank services.
The ministry also said that, along with the three state-run oil marketing companies, it has taken up the matter with the Department of Financial Services, the National Payments Corporation, as well as Airtel.
—IANS
