Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)

3rd November, 2021 Polity

Figure 3: No Copyright Infringement Intended

Context:

The government has notified rules enabling the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to appoint adjudicating officers to act against violators of the Aadhaar Act and impose penalties to the tune of Rs 1 crore, nearly two years after the legislation was passed.

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal shall be the appellate authority against decisions of the Adjudicating Officer.
Adjudicating Officers appointed by the UIDAI shall decide such matters, and may impose penalties up to Rs 1 crore on such entities.
The Aadhaar Act, in its present form, does not empower the UIDAI to take enforcement action against errant entities in the Aadhaar ecosystem.
the adjudicating officer will not be below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India, possess working experience of 10 years or more, and possess administrative or technical knowledge in any of the disciplines of law, management, information technology or commerce with at least three years of relevant experience.
The Adjudicating Officer, before adjudging penalty, shall issue a notice to the person or entity alleged to have committed the contravention, requiring them or it to show cause why the penalty should not be imposed on him or it and clearly indicate the nature of contravention, non-compliance or default under the Act.
The Adjudicating Officer shall have the power to summon and enforce the attendance of any person acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case to give evidence.
The amount of any penalty imposed by Adjudicating Officer shall be deposited into the UIDAI Fund and if not paid, may be recovered as if it were an arrear of land revenue.

Offline verification of Aadhaar number holder:Under the Aadhaar Act, an individual’s identity may be verified by Aadhaar ‘authentication’. Authentication involves submitting the Aadhaar number, and their biometric or demographic information to the Central Identities Data Repository for verification.
Voluntary use: The Act provides for the use of Aadhaar number as proof of identity of a person, subject to authentication. The Bill replaces this provision to state that an individual may voluntarily use his Aadhaar number to establish his identity, by authentication or offline verification.
Entities using Aadhaar: Under the Act, usage of Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual, by the State or a body corporate under any law, is permitted.
Aadhaar number of children: The Bill specifies that at the time of enrolling a child to obtain an Aadhaar number, the enrolling agency shall seek the consent of his parent or guardian.
UIDAI Fund: Under the Act, all fees and revenue collected by the UIDAI will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India. The Bill removes this provision, and creates the Unique Identification Authority of India Fund.

The Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI is an agency under the central government of India mandated to collect demographic and biometric information of the country’s residents, store the data in a central database, and issue to each resident of the country a 12-digit unique identity number called Aadhaar.
UIDAI was established as per the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.
The act is also called the Aadhaar Act 2016 in short.
It comes under the Electronics & IT ministry.