Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has finally chalked out a path to monetize Aadhaar KYC and Aadhaar based transactions.

In a rule notification issues, every business in India which wishes to use Aadhaar for KYC or Know Your Customer procedure will need to pay Rs 20, per case, and Rs 0.50 per Aadhaasr based transaction.

Is this a feasible solution? We will soon find out!

UIDAI Orders Businesses To Pay For Aadhaar Usage

UIDAI has issued a circular titled “Aadhaar (Pricing of Aadhaar Authentication Services) Regulations 2019”, according to which, businesses will need to pay for using Aadhaar services.

Every instance of a business pinging Aadhaar servers for any authentication will be paid.

The circular said, “Aadhaar authentication services shall be charged at the rate of Rs. 20 (including taxes) for each e-KYC transaction and Rs. 0.50 (including taxes) for each Yes and No authentication transaction from requesting entities,”

This notification comes days after Govt. of India passed a special ordinance which makes the usage of Aadhaar by businesses such as telcos, banks and other establishments legal.

Notably, the Supreme Court had banned the usage of Aadhaar by private companies and stopped them from storing any Aadhaar related data.

Hence, it is clear that Govt. had plans to monetize the usage of Aadhaar, and they were just waiting for this special ordinance to pass.

Is This Aadhaar Monetization Justified?

An official from UIDAI justified the move by Govt. to make money from Aadhaar usage.

As per him, businesses usually spend Rs 150 to Rs 200 per KYC done without using Aadhaar. Hence, if they pay Rs 20 for Aadhaar based KYC, then they can save money here.

The official said, “Therefore, it is just, fair and reasonable that such entities should contribute to meet expenses nominally which are incurred by UIDAI in providing these services,”

The logic of charging Rs 0.50 per Aadhaar based transaction was not justified, though.

Which Entities Will Be Exempted From Aadhaar Charges?

Scheduled commercial banks, which has been asked to enroll Aadhaar for Indian citizens, and to update the records under gazette notification issued in July 2017, are exempted from this new Aadhaar pricing and charges.

However, in case these scheduled banks fall short of the target, then they will be asked to pay the fine.

Government entities and the Department of Posts are also exempted from the Aadhaar charges.

In case any business entity fails to pay the Aadhaar charges within 15 days of the invoice raised by UIDAI, then 1.5% compound charge per month will be levied, and Aadhaar access will be banned for that company.

We will keep you updated, as we receive more updates.

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