Common banking terms associated with Aadhaar
Bank account holders have come across much news about linking Aadhaar with bank accounts in the recent past. All bank account holders were earlier directed to link their accounts with Aadhaar by RBI and central government. Many petitions challenging the direction are under scrutiny of Supreme Court. Meanwhile, vide Master Direction on KYC policy 2016, amended by RBI Aadhaar and PAN/ Form 60 have been made mandatory for all new accounts, except small accounts. In the case of existing accounts, last date for linking Aadhaar with accounts will be announced by central government in due course, based on the verdict by Supreme Court.
Since linking Aadhaar with bank account has been made mandatory for all new accounts, familiarizing with the common terms related to Aadhaar being used by bankers will be highly helpful. Here are the most common words.
Aadhaar Act
Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 is commonly known as Aadhaar Act, 2016. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir and other states if any exempted by the Act.
Aadhaar Act provides legal backing to the Aadhaar unique identification number project. The Act was passed by Lok Sabha on 11 March 2016. Certain other provisions of the Act came into effect from 12 July 2016 and 12 September 2016 respectively.
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), is responsible for collecting the data from resident individuals and issuing the Aadhaar number. UIDAI is a statutory authority established by the government of India, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. It was established in January 2009.
Aadhaar number
Aadhaar number is a 12-digit unique identity number issued to residents of India, based on their biometric and demographic data. The number is isued to a resident individual by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) after collecting the demographic and biometric information as per the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.
In terms of the Aadhaar Act, every resident shall be eligible to obtain an Aadhaar number. It is a document of identity and address.
Aadhaar project is described as the most sophisticated ID programme in the world and the world's largest biometric ID system.
Aadhaar Enrolment number
Aadhaar enrolment number/enrolment id is a 28 digit Enrolment Identification Number allocated to residents at the time of enrolment of Aadhaar by UIDAI. This will be substituted by Aadhaar ID immediately.
Central Identities Data Repository(CIDR)
Central Identities Data Repository is the centralised database in one or more locations in India. It contains all Aadhaar numbers issued along with the corresponding demographic and biometric information of such individuals and other information related thereto. Since the database contains the details of almost all Indians, security of database is a crucial matter. It is claimed by UIDAI and government that the best possible security measures are adopted to ensure security and prevent leakage of data.
Aadhaar Authentication
Aadhaar Authentication is the process by which the Aadhaar number along with demographic information or biometric information of an individual is submitted to the Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) for verification and such Repository verifies the correctness, or the lack thereof, on the basis of information available with it and conveys the position.
Aadhaar Authentication can be grouped under two categories:
a. Yes/ No Authentication and
b. E- KYC Authentication
Under E-KYC authentication, two methods are adopted
i. OTP based authentication
ii. Biometric authentication
Consent of Aadhaar holder is essential for Aadhaar Authentication
Yes/No authentication facility
Yes/No authentication facility is a type of authentication facility in which the identity information and Aadhaar number is securely submitted with the consent of the Aadhaar number holder through a requesting entity for matching against the data available in the CIDR, and the Authority responds with a digitally signed response containing “Yes” or “No”, along with other technical details related to the authentication transaction. But CIDR will not reveal any identity information in this method. It will say, YES if the data submitted to it matches 100% with the data as per their records. Else, a NO message is returned.
Earlier, partial matching report was also being provided. As more and more requests were being received, to prevent any misuse, it was decided by UIDAI to restrict to YES/ NO matching alone.
E-KYC authentication facility
E-KYC authentication facility is a type of authentication facility in which the biometric information and /or OTP and Aadhaar number is securely submitted with the consent of the Aadhaar number holder through a requesting entity for matching against the data available in the CIDR. The Authority returns a digitally signed response containing e-KYC data along with other technical details related to the authentication transaction to the requestor of data.
Biometric Information
Biometric information means photograph, finger print, Iris scan, or such other biological attributes of an individual as may be specified by Aadhaar (authentication) regulations.
Demographic information
Demographic information includes information relating to the name, date of birth, address and other relevant information of an individual, as may be specified by regulations for the purpose of issuing an Aadhaar number. However, it shall not include race, religion, caste, tribe, ethnicity, language, records of entitlement, income or medical history.
Identity information
Identity information in respect of an individual includes individual’s Aadhaar number, biometric information and demographic information.
Virtual Aadhaar ID
UIDAI is solely responsible for the enrollment and security of the Aadhaar details of individuals. Virtual Aadhaar ID is a unique feature introduced by UIDAI recently to give more security for the personal data including the demographic and biometric information for the Aadhaar holder.
The Aadhaar Virtual ID offers limited KYC access and provides only sufficient information which is required for the verification rather than offering the complete details of an individual. It gives access to the biometric information of an Aadhaar card holder along with the basic details like name, address and photograph that are sufficient for the e-KYC.
The Aadhaar Virtual ID is a 16-digit random numbers that is mapped to an individual’s Aadhaar at the back end. An Aadhaar card holder using the virtual ID need not submit his Aadhaar number every time for verification purpose. He can generate a Virtual ID and use it for various verification purposes like banking, financial purposes, mobile application etc. The major advantage is that Aadhaar holder need not even disclose his Aadhaar number, thereby enhancing his privacy.
Banks, financial institutions and other users are instructed to make their systems ready to capture Virtual Aadhaar ID by June 2018. Aadhaar is mandatory for all new accounts; small accounts exempted
