Making it clear that the Supreme Court had not stayed linking of Aadhaar with different services, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Thursday said that the people should complete the process as early as possible to avoid any inconvenience.
“Aadhaar Act being in force, all notifications for requiring Aadhaar for various welfare programmes, verifying bank account, PAN card and SIM card with Aadhaar stand valid and lawful,” it said in a statement.
“Today’s legal position is that there is no stay as on December 7, 2017, from the Supreme Court on Aadhaar and its linking to various services,” it added.
The Attorney General of India K. K. Venugopal, on Thursday, submitted before the Supreme Court that the government intended to issue a notification on December 8, extending the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with services from December 31 to March 31, 2018. The deadline for Aadhaar linkage for most of these services, including bank accounts, is currently December 31, 2017.
There will be no extension of deadline for verifying Aadhaar with mobile phone numbers, which remains to be February 6, 2018.
UIDAI said that Aadhaar Act 2016 was passed by Parliament in March last year and notified in the Gazette of India. “Therefore, subsequent notifications issued under section/s of Aadhaar Act for requiring Aadhaar as primary identifier by various ministries and departments of Government of India and States/UTs Governments for various services, benefits and subsidies hold the field today,” it said.
It further advised people not to get misled by “an outdated video doing rounds in social media and Whatsapp…and has recommended that people should instead verify their banks accounts, investment accounts, SIM cards, etc. as per the current laws and deadlines as early as possible to avoid any inconvenience.”
