Don’t share Aadhaar information: UIDAI to e-commerce firms

Collecting information related to Aadhaar card or its unauthorised printing or aiding such persons in any manner may amount to a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment under Indian Penal Code

Collecting information related to Aadhaar card or its unauthorised printing or aiding such persons in any manner may amount to a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment under Indian Penal Code

The Unique Identification Authority of India or otherwise known as UIDAI has asked e-commerce players like e-Bay, Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal to stop merchants on their platform from collecting Aaddhaar information of people transacting.

The ministry of communications and IT has also warned the general public against sharing personal information to people who are charging between ₹50 to ₹200 on a plastic card in the name of smart card, Economic Times reported.

"The Aadhaar card or the downloaded Aadhaar card printed on ordinary paper is perfectly valid for all uses," director general of UIDAI, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, said.

"If a person has a paper Aadhaar card, there is absolutely no need to get his/her Aadhaar card laminated or obtain a plastic Aadhaar card or so called SMART Aadhaar card by paying money. There is no concept such as smart Aadhaar card," he added.

The ministry has also warned that collecting information related to Aadhaar card or its unauthorised printing or aiding such persons in any manner may amount to a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment under Indian Penal Code and also Chapter VI of The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.