In a breather, Bharti Airtel was on Thursday allowed to use Aadhaar for re-verification of its mobile customers till January 10 with stiff riders after it returned Rs 138-crore LPG subsidy flown into unsolicited payment bank accounts.
The Aadhaar-issuing body Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), however, maintained that Airtel Payments Bank eKYC licence will “remain suspended till final enquiry and audit report”, said sources privy to the development.
The stiff riders imposed by the UIDAI range from limiting the eKYC only for re-verification of telecom subscribers to Airtel informing its customers within next 24-hours about mapping of the DBT benefits back to the original bank accounts.
The UIDAI issued its second interim order to this effect on Thursday.
As per the order, the relief is contingent on Airtel restricting its e-KYC and authentication service only for re-verification and issuance of SIM cards.
The telecom major would not be allowed to leverage the same for obtaining consent of the Aadhaar holder for opening bank accounts, wallet, Direct to Home (DTH) or any other goods or services, sources said. Airtel will now have to inform its customers over next 24 hours that the direct benefit transfers received in their Airtel payment bank accounts have been duly reversed to original bank accounts.
An Airtel spokesperson said that “We would like to confirm that the UIDAI has allowed Bharti Airtel to resume Aadhaar based e-KYC services. We continue to engage with the authorities”.
The UIDAI has asked both Reserve Bank of India and the telecom department to conduct an audit of systems, processes, applications, documentations followed by Bharti Airtel “to ensure that the company is in compliance with their license conditions”.