Govt move to charge us for Aadhaar e-KYC to make services costly: Industry

The government’s decision to charge private companies for Aadhaar authentication has not gone down well with the industry, which argues that the move will make services more expensive for end-users.

On Thursday, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the agency that administers Aadhaar, said it will begin charging private firms for electronic know your customer (e-KYC) transactions. Each authentication will cost Rs 20 and a yes/no transaction will bear a charge of 50 paise.

The Cabinet had last week enacted the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, which will allow use of Aadhaar number as a voluntary KYC mechanism. The Supreme Court last year struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, disallowing private companies from insisting on the 12-digit identity number.