Bharti Airtel deposits Rs2.5 crore penalty with UIDAI
UIDAI had accused Airtel of allegedly opening payments bank accounts of its mobile subscribers without their informed consent.
The UIDAI had sent a notice to BhartiAirtel in September after receiving complaints from citizens that it was opening payments bank accounts without the explicit consent of users. Photo: PTI
BhartiAirtel has deposited a penalty of Rs2.5 crore with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for alleged violation of rules on using Aadhaar for its electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) verification process, a person aware of the matter told Mint.
When contacted, the company declined comment.
UIDAI had temporarily suspended the telecom operator as well as its payments bank from conducting Aadhaar-based verification of its mobile customers as well those of the bank, using the e-KYC process.
The authority had also sent a notice to the company in September after receiving complaints from citizens that it was opening payments bank accounts without the explicit consent of users. It was also alleged that government subsidies were being credited in these accounts without the knowledge of the users.
When customers went to Airtel’s mobile app for verification, a box popped up with the statement “Upgrade or create my Airtel Payment Bank wallet using existing Airtel mobile KYC”, UIDAI had alleged.
The authority has also roped in PwC for an audit in this issue.(Source:Livemint).
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