Good news for the Government’s Digital India mission as ten (10) crore Aadhaar numbers have been linked to bank accounts of Aadhaar holders. This would enable these individuals to digitally receive government welfare subsidies and other payments directly into their bank accounts, in a hassle-free manner.
Establishing a link between an Aadhaar number and a bank account makes it easy for the government to identify genuine beneficiaries and route welfare payments and subsidies directly into their bank accounts. The individual can benefit from this system as it is portable across any bank in the country and he/she can access these subsidies even if the person moves to another part of the country, making the whole process hassle-free. Till date, 333 banks are live on this platform.
To link Aadhaar number to their bank account, residents need to provide a copy of their Aadhaar letter or their e-Aadhaar to the bank branch in which he/she holds the account. Once the account is seeded, the account will be used by Government departments to transfer subsidies directly into this bank account.
Residents can check status of the Aadhaar-Bank account linkage by dialling *99*99# on their mobile phone. This facility is provided by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) at a cost of Rs.1.50 per enquiry.
The Aadhaar identity platform is the largest biometric database in the world and serves users ranging from LPG consumers, MNREGA workers, PDS, remittance and scholarship beneficiaries, etc. – all using their Aadhaar number to avail benefits.
Till 9th December 2014, about eight crore transactions have been made through the Aadhaar Payment Bridge for various Government welfare programs such as Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, Tribal welfare schemes, Pensions, amounting to Rs.5,151.51crore.
Issuance of Aadhaars crossed the 72 crore-mark as on Dec 12, 2014. In the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh, over 10 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated. These four states with a combined population of about 34 crore, were allocated to UIDAI earlier this year for issuance of Aadhaars.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has received national and international acclaim for the Aadhaar project. Recently, the Data Security Council of India declared UIDAI as the best agency for “Security in e-Governance”.
