UIDAI asks banks to use Aadhaar e-KYC for DBT users

New Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India has said that Aadhaar e-KYC can be used to authenticate beneficiaries of government subsidies and welfare schemes, while for others the Aadhaar card can be used for verification, said a senior UIDAI official, requesting anonymity. The UIDAI wrote to banks after it received legal opinion on the matter, in the wake of a recent Supreme Court verdict that restricted the use of Aadhaar by private entities, but cleared it for welfare schemes. The UIDAI listed various “options” for the use of Aadhaar, such as QR code and offline Aadhaar, for other banking customers, he added. When contacted, UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey said: “There are viable and completely paperless and digital options available through digitally-signed electronic form of Aadhaar, which allows identity to be verified online without pinging our server.