New Delhi: The government has made possessing an Aadhaar number mandatory for obtaining benefits under the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) pension scheme for senior citizens, which is implemented through Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC).

Subscribers of the scheme who do not have Aadhaar numbers will have to submit an application to get enrolled by 31 December, a finance ministry notification said.

“An individual eligible for receiving the benefit under the scheme is hereby required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication," a notification issued by the finance ministry on 20 November said.

There are more than 1.18 billion Aadhaar card holders in the country.

The VPBY scheme was announced in two versions in Union budgets 2003-04 and 2014-15. Earlier this year, the cabinet gave its approval for VPBY 2017, which will provide a guaranteed return of 8% for 10 years.

Beneficiaries are advised to get themselves enrolled at Aadhaar enrolment centres by 31 December, in case they are not already enrolled.

The notification is effective from 20 November in all states and Union territories, except the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir.

As of now, Aadhaar is mandatory to avail benefits of social security schemes like Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, and the deadline to furnish Aadhaar details for these is 31 December.

However, the Supreme Court is still to give a final decision on a slew of petitions challenging the legal validity of Aadhaar on the grounds that it is an intrusion into a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy.

A constitution bench comprising five judges, likely to be set up next week, will determine the legal basis of Aadhaar, as well as consider various other challenges raised against it. Among these challenges are—making Aadhaar mandatory for social welfare benefits, infringement of right to privacy, making Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITRs) as well as for obtaining and retaining PAN.

A total of 22 cases were tagged by the apex court to be heard by the constitution bench. They challenge several aspects of Aadhaar and the use/sharing of data collected under it.

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