Hindustan Times via Getty Images Although the court handed down what appeared to be a very clear mandate on the use of Aadhaar, the regulatory bodies in charge of different industries have remained quiet.

JALANDHAR, Punjab — Two days after the Supreme Court ruled that private companies could not use the Aadhaar authentication platform without Parliament passing a law to regulate its use, kiosks appeared on the roads of prominent cities in Maharashtra, festooned with banners proclaiming "Aadhaar number link karo. Paytm Karo! Link your Aadhaar number today to continue enjoying full benefits of your Paytm Account."

Paytm declined to comment on the issue when contacted by HuffPost India.

In the weeks following the judgement, telcos, banks and tech companies such as Paytm, Flipkart and Amazon, have continued to insist on users providing their Aadhaar information. Although the court handed down what appeared to be a very clear mandate on the use of Aadhaar, the regulatory bodies in charge of different industries have remained quiet, and in the absence of clear directives, businesses continue to ignore the court.

Majority of SIM activation is being done through Aadhaar

Banks and telcos are both asking for Aadhaar—at a Reliance Jio store in Bengaluru, the executive asked for an Aadhaar card. When questioned about the Supreme Court judgement, he replied, "Sir, I don't know about that, we have not received any instruction to stop using Aadhaar so far."

A source in the company, speaking on background, said that an industry-level response is likely to be formed soon, but in the interim, stores are supposed to accept other forms of ID, and added that the executive had made a lapse.

Another highly placed executive in Jio, on condition of anonymity, revealed that although Aadhaar may not be mandatory now, this could change soon.

"We have sought permission to use the Quick Response (QR) code mentioned on the Aadhaar paper-print which can be used offline for authentication purposes. As the QR code contains minimum demographic information including only the name and the address, it can be used instead of seeking biometrics or the actual Aadhaar number," the executive said.

Even though this hasn't happened yet, asking for Aadhaar is still the norm rather than the exception for telcos.

"Due to lack of awareness, majority of the SIM card activation in rural India is still being done through Aadhaar authentication only," the executive said.

Telcos say delinking Aadhaar is impossible

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has asked telecom companies to submit their plans to exit the Aadhaar-linked authentication system by 15 October. At the same time, sources have claimed that companies have sought a new legislation allowing them to do Aadhaar-linked authentication.

An executive at Airtel said, requesting anonymity, that while the Supreme Court has ordered private companies to delink Aadhaar data from the products, it is a very challenging task.

"We are yet to find a way to delink Aadhaar details from our billions of SIM cards issued till date," the executive said. "The move will erase all data linked to the SIM card holder. It is not only difficult but impossible," claimed the executive.

HuffPost India went to stores of Vodafone, Airtel and Jio, to see whether they were insisting on users producing Aadhaar. While most stores requested Aadhaar upfront, a few that HuffPost India visited were willing to accept other documents, although they also said that with Aadhaar, the number would get activated instantly, while using other documents meant the process could take a couple of days. However, a few stores did say that without Aadhaar they wouldn't be able to give a SIM.

Flipkart and Amazon are also asking for Aadhaar