New Delhi, Dec 7: The Central Government has informed the Supreme Court that it is ready to prolong the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail various services and benefits of government schemes, till March 31, 2018.

The Supreme Court is now scheduled to hear the Aadhaar card case next week.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was informed by Attorney General K K Venugopal that the Centre was willing to extend the deadline of December 31 to March 31 next year for linking of Aadhaar card with various services and schemes.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shyam Divan had mentioned before the top court that the deadline was going to expire, so the petitioners should be heard for an interim relief.

However, the deadline for Aadhaar linking to cellphone numbers that are on February 6, cannot be extended, since the date was fixed by the apex court, the Centre added.

Earlier on October 25, the Supreme court had said that the deadline for compulsory linking of Aadhaar to receive benefits of government schemes has been extended till March 31, 2018, for those who do not have the 12-digit unique biometric identification number.

As of now, the 12-digit Aadhaar number is compulsory to be linked to bank accounts, PAN cards, government services and cell phone services.

The Supreme Court had made it clear that banks and telecom service providers should clearly indicate the last date of linking bank accounts and mobile numbers with Aadhaar in their communications with customers to avoid panic. (ANI)