MUMBAI: Bank employees have filed a petition in the Supreme Court stating that they do not have the wherewithal to provide Aadhaar related services in 10 per cent of the branches as ordered by Unique Identification Authority of India.

Speaking to TOI, D Thomas Franco, general secretary, All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) said that the association in its petition had raised the issue of privacy and lack of security features in the Aadhaar card. “The rules hold the bank officer accountable if anyone commits fraud. Bank officers are not in a position to identify fraudulent cards. How can bank employees be held liable when 49,000 Aadhaar enrolment centres which have been collecting information have been blacklisted,” said Franco.

The UIDAI requires banks to have Aadhaar centres in 10 per cent of their branches. Bankers say that over one lakh employees would be required to be engaged for Aadhaar related work. “Banks have not been compensated for the extra effort they have had to put in opening Jan Dhan Yojana accounts, demonetization, Atal Pension Yojana and other government insurance schemes,” said Franco.

“Government spokespersons make public statements that banks should not be sending mass text messages and should call customers and explain. But banks do not have the resources to call up 80 crore accountholders individually,” he said. Government has been delaying appointments of employee representatives on the board of banks despite this being a legal requirement under the bank nationalization act, Franco said.

There was concern in the association that crucial decisions on bad loans and mergers would be taken without keeping staff informed.

