Skip to main content

Aadhaar PAN linkage gets ´ likes´, but data leak big overhang


The government´s move to link Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar has got support from a large number of people, but a vast majority are concerned about their personal details getting leaked and being misused, two separate surveys show.

The first survey, conducted by online citizen engagement platform Local Circles, found that close to twothirds of respondents were concerned about their Aadhaar details getting leaked during the prevailing processes of getting the ID card made and through access protocols for vendors like banks and telecom operators.

About one fourth of respondents said they were not concerned, showing their satisfaction with the existing security measures, while the remaining did not express any opinion.According to Local Circles,a total of 10,729 citizens voted on this poll.

In the second poll, which had 9,847 respondents, 70 per cent backed the government´s move to link Aadhaar with PAN in its bid to increase the compliance level.Another 27 per cent opposed such linkage, while three per cent did not express their opinion.The Finance Act, 2017, has made it a must for taxpayers to link their PAN to the 12 digit Aadhaar or the enrolment ID at the time of application, to file their returns.The government has also made it mandatory to have Aadhaar before one can apply for PAN, effective July 1.

Such linkage in the long run will help the government establish that its subsidies are reaching the intended targets as the income tax department can verify the link between the beneficiary and the eligible income group.

The government is swearing by the utility value of Aadhaar as one of the most effective tools of checking tax evasion and keeping tabs on black money.According to the poll, some spoke of operators who go to the extent of selling the personal details in the market.Many suggested severe penalties including jail term for those found guilty of compromising biometric and other information.

Local Circles said it spoke to some vendors who outlined their own concerns including the costs they have to incur in the form of the money needed to become a licensed player and the high upfront investment in equipment.

Some vendors complained about the delay in payment of Rs 100 per Aadhaar card by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the nodal agency entrusted with the job.Of late, the data leak vulnerability has assumed serious proportions, given the frequency of such breaches.

Star cricketer MS Dhoni found himself at the receiving end of one such data misuse which was attributed to the over zealousness of an enrolment entity that let out his personal details.The government stepped in after his wife Sakshi flagged the matter to Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Business Standard New Delhi, 15th May 2017

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

  Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

  While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...

Retail inflation cools to a six-year low of 2.82% in May on moderating food prices

  New Delhi: Retail inflation in India cooled to its lowest level in over six years in May, helped by a sharp moderation in food prices, according to provisional government data released Thursday.Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased to 2.82% year-on-year, down from 3.16% in April and 4.8% in May last year, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed. This marks the fourth consecutive month of sub-4% inflation, the longest such streak in at least five years.The data comes just days after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5%, its third straight cut and a cumulative reduction of 100 basis points since the easing cycle began in February. The move signals a possible pivot from inflation control to supporting growth.Food inflation came in at just 0.99% in May, down from 1.78% in April and a sharp decline from 8.69% a year ago.A Mint poll of 15 economists had projected CPI ...