The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has allowed the common service centres (CSCs) that operate as banking correspondents (BCs) to start the Aadhaar updation facility. A CSC is an SPV (special purpose vehicle) under the Ministry of IT and Electronics for accessible electronic delivery of services including e-governance to citizens in rural India. There are 20,000 CSCs that operate as banking correspondents (BCs) across the country.

"To make Aadhaar updation easier for citizens, the UIDAI has permitted CSCs which are designated banking correspondents of banks, to offer Aadhaar update services. Around 20,000 such CSCs will now be able to offer this service to citizens," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted. UIDAI has set a June deadline for the commencement of the work after centres with banking facilities upgrade their required infrastructure and get other necessary approvals, the government said. These centres were earlier allowed to process Aadhaar enrollment but it stopped after privacy and security-related issues erupted in 2019.

The CSCs provided a big relief to people during the coronavirus lockdown. With these 20,000 additional centers available to update Aadhaar, the users particularly in rural areas didn't have to visit Aadhaar centres in bank branches or post offices for this work.

Meanwhile, the government recently allowed 29 insurance companies and 9 stock or securities entities to undertake Aadhaar Authentication services of the UIDAI. "To allow these entities to use Aadhaar Authentication services under Aadhaar Act with necessary standard security and privacy measures would help these entities to perform in real-time, do e-KYC and would also reduce their cost of the transaction," Finan