New Delhi: The Cabinet on Monday approved amending the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to provide legal backing for seeding of biometric ID Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts, news agency PTI reported quoting sources.
The move comes after the Supreme Court in September struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, restricting the use of Aadhaar by private companies, saying it had no legal backing.
The act made seeding of the biometric ID with SIM cards and bank accounts mandatory.
Activists and lawyers had approached the apex court on the issue, citing privacy concerns.
The SC, however, upheld the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme and would remain mandatory for filing of income tax returns (ITR) and allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN).
To overcome this lacuna, the Telegraph Act is being amended to provide legal backing for the issuance of mobile SIMs through Aadhaar and the PMLA to give individuals option to link their bank accounts to Aadhaar in the KYC option, the sources said.
The amendments will now allow for voluntary sharing of the 12-digit identification number for obtaining new mobile phone connections and for the opening of bank accounts.
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