Aadhaar may be sufficient to open bank account

A unique identification number , or Aadhaar, may soon be enough for a person to get a new mobile connection or to open a bank account.

The Unique Identification Authority of India, the apex agency managing the UID project, which aims to give every resident of the country a unique identity, has initiated the process to make this happen, according to chairman Nandan Nilekani.

To make people realise the importance of having a UID, the authority is in talks with the department of telecommunications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to make Aadhaar numbers sufficient for getting new mobile connections.

"We are negotiating with DoT and Trai on making the Aadhaar number sufficient for getting a mobile phone connection. Presently, a person who wants a new SIM card goes to a retail outlet and he has to do some paper works, other than submitting all necessary proofs.

"If he has an Aadhaar number, that entire process can be done electronically," Nilekani said today, while addressing income tax officers on 'Revitalisation of Public Service' here.

He said the authority was also talking to the Reserve Bank of India, the finance ministry and Indian Bankers' Association to allow Aadhaar numbers as sufficient proof for their know-your-customer procedure to open no-frills bank accounts.

"If Aadhaar is sufficient to open a bank account, there is one more reason why a person should get his number," he said.

"We think the reason why it (Aadhaar) will work is that people themselves will start seeing the benefits, and they themselves will drive the adoption."

The first set of UIDs, originally planned to be issued on September 1, has been postponed indefinitely, due to unavailability of prime minister Manmohan Singh.

The prime minister was supposed to roll out the numbers in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Nilekani said the new date was yet to be finalised.

"We will be launching it in the next few weeks. We will be launching in multiple locations, and hopefully in the next few months, we will ramp up to millions of enrollments," he said.

Image: Nandan Nilekani