In what may be an indicator of lacunae in the Aadhaar registration process, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has suspended 10 operators in Mumbai after an inspection on Thursday allegedly found them indulging in irregularities.

With the Centre planning to transfer subsidies to bank accounts, UIDAI has announced “priority registration” for LPG consumers and scholarship holders with other citizens being told to enrol after April 15. It will help these target groups to register in time by reducing crowding at centres.The UIDAI has also blacklisted around 300 operators in Maharashtra, of which 22 are from Mumbai, for seeking money from applicants among other reasons. Officials admitted to receiving complaints about agents becoming active at registration centres.

UIDAI deputy director general Ajay Bhushan Pandey said officials had carried out surprise inspections on Thursday. “They found that, at some places, operators weren’t giving proper appointments. Some only wrote dates on blank application forms and no appointment register was kept. We suspect it was done to help agents,” he said, adding that they had suspended 10 operators and would blacklist them after following due processes.

The UIDAI will also ask enrolment agencies to instruct operators to give proper appointments and note down names and contact details in a separate register. These inspections by UIDAI and the state IT department will be a continuing activity. “We’re ensuring that LPG consumers and scholarship holders are not inconvenienced. Citizens can enrol till December...they shouldn’t panic,” said Pandey.

@dhavalkulkarni