People who charge money for getting Aadhaar cards made could face criminal prosecution, said Mr Ram Sevak Sharma, Director-General, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Mr Sharma said enrolment was free and people facing such problems should lodge a complaint with the UIDAI helpline. He was reacting to issues related to monitoring of enrolment agencies set up for making national identity cards.
Earlier, speaking during the first anniversary celebrations of the formation of UIDAI here on Thursday, its Chairman, Mr Nandan Nilekani, brushed aside reports on differences with the Planning Commission. He said, “My powers have been delegated by the Prime Minister….We are an attached office of the Planning Commission and by series of Government orders, several authorities have been delegated to us.”
The Plan panel is reported to have written to the Finance Ministry that UIDAI had not got its financial proposal examined by the panel's secretary or financial adviser, and urged the Ministry to depute a financial adviser.
Maximum enrolments
He said in one year, 37.4 million people have been covered by Aadhaar. The maximum enrolments were done in Andhra Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Tripura
Pilot projects to set up micro-ATMs were being carried out in a big way in many States. “We are moving toward greater financial inclusion with micro payments of benefits such as pensions, MGNREGA wages, going straight into bank accounts, attached to Aadhaar cards,” Mr Nilekani said.
Asked if Aadhaar cards would also be considered a valid ‘residence proof,' Mr Nilekani said it was primarily an identity proof but it was up to different Government agencies to decide on its validity.
“As of now, the banking system has declared Aadhaar as valid KYC (Know Your Customer) for opening an account. The Department of Telecom said it will consider it is an automatic KYC for issuing SIM cards and the Petroleum Ministry, too, will accept it for LPG connections,” he added.