UIDAI orders probe against Bharti Airtel for alleged Aadhaar Act violations

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has ordered a probe against Bharti Airtel for alleged violation of the Aadhaar Act, following the government's direction to link Aadhaar to mobile numbers, Times of India reported.

In addition, the regulator is said to have slapped a penalty on the company for discreetly opening Payments Bank accounts of customers while carrying out Aadhaar verification of their mobile numbers.

The probe was ordered after complaints of prima facie violations were found to be valid, said the report.

"The lapses are serious in nature. Prima facie, it is a criminal breach of trust and contract, and there are violations of provisions of the Aadhaar Act," a person aware of the matter told the paper on conditions of anonymity.

The issue came to light when some customers complained about receiving their cooking gas subsidy — sent under the central government's Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme — in the Airtel Payments Bank account instead of their designated savings bank accounts with other banks.

They alleged these accounts were opened without their authorisation or knowledge. Following which, the UIDAI sent a showcause notice to Airtel.

"Airtel Payments Bank is fully compliant with all guidelines and follows a stringent customer on-boarding process. Airtel Payments Bank accounts are opened only after explicit consent from the customer. A separate consent for DBT is taken from all customers," the company said in a response to a query regarding the same.