How to lock Aadhaar number?
The Aadhaar Biometric Locking System can be used to protect the privacy of your Aadhaar data. Misuse of your Aadhaar number can be prevented by getting your biometrics locked.
The steps are as follows:
- Visit the Aadhaar locking website
- Enter your 12 digit Aadhaar number.
- Get verified with the OTP sent to your mobile.
- Log in and click on “Enable” tab to lock you Aadhaar biometric credentials.
How to unlock Aadhaar number?
The steps are as follows:
- Visit the Aadhaar locking website
- Enter your 12 digit Aadhaar number.
- Get verified with the OTP sent to your mobile.
- Click on the “Unlock” tab to unlock you Aadhaar biometric credentials.
As Aadhaar is an important multi-purpose identity proof, staying vigilant about its custody and usage can save you from being a victim of identity theft.
Where It Should Be Linked?
Financial Services:
Bank Account
Quoting of Aadhaar is necessary for conducting a variety of banking transactions. Whether it’s account opening or financial transactions above Rs. 50,000/-, your Aaadhar number is used for authentication. For new account opening, Aadhaar is mandatory.
Mutual Fund Investments
With the advent of Aadhaar card the process of investing in mutual funds has become simpler.
There are multiple ways of linking Aadhaar with mutual fund portfolio:
CAMs or Karvy
These are the registrar and transfer agents of mutual funds that record all the transactions of the investors. In order to ease the process both CAMs and Karvy will link the folios with Aadhaar. Therefore investors don't have to separately link the Aadhar with each mutual fund folio.
Online mode
- CAMs investors can click on the link
- Karvy investors can click on the link
Physical mode
You can download the KYC forms from the website, and visit the nearest branch of the CAMs or Karvy or the asset management company, and submit the form.
Insurance
Your insurance policies can be linked to your Aadhaar by logging on to the website of the insurance company or by contacting their customer service department. This linking ensures that your interaction with your insurer will be smooth and hassle free. As your personal information will be verified from the central database of UIDAI, it will eliminate chances of data entry error and requirement of unnecessary document handling.
For example, with ICICI Lombard, the linking of your Aadhaar and PAN number to your motor, travel, health or home insurance policy is a simple process. You can complete the linking in a few steps by clicking here and by providing the required information.
Provident Fund:
Linking of Aadhaar with the pension account can be done in the following 2 ways:
Offline linking of EPF to Aadhaar:
The EPF Aadhaar Seeding Application form can be used to fill in all your details and submit it to the EPFO office. You need to submit self-attested copies of your UAN, PAN and Aadhaar with the application. Once your Aadhaar and EPF account is linked, you will be informed through your mobile or email ID.
Online linking of EPF to Aadhaar:
Login to the EPFO Unified EPF Portal by using the UAN number and password. From the drop down menu, select KYC. Fill in the required details. Once your details are verified by the organisation, the linking will be complete.
Filing Income Tax Returns
The Income Tax Department has made it easy for taxpayers to link their PAN with Aadhaar with just a 2 step process. They are as follows:
Step 1
Visit www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and click on the link on the left pane – Link Aadhaar.
Step 2
In the link, provide your PAN and Aadhaar number, and submit. After verification from UIDAI, the linking will be complete.
As per the Finance Act 2017, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had made it mandatory to quote Aadhaar number for filing income tax returns.
Identification:
Voter ID
Linking of Aadhaar with you voter ID can be done through the following steps:
1. NVSP Portal
- Visit the official NVSP website and enter your state, district, and personal details such as name, date of birth and father’s name.
- Click on the “Search” button. Check your details displayed on screen.
- Click on the “Feed Aadhaar No”, whereupon a pop-up window will appear, where you have to feed in your name as per your Aadhaar card, your EPIC number, Aadhaar number, and your registered mobile number/registered email address.
- Click “submit”.
2. SMS
- Send the following SMS format to 166 OR 51969: ECILINK < EPIC_Number > < Aadhaar_Number >.
- For example, ECILINK XYZ1234567 543215678, where “XYZ1234567” is the Aadhaar number and “543215678” is the APIC number.
3. Phone
- Call 1950 on weekdays between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm and provide your EPIC and Aadhaar card information to link the two.
4. Booth Level Officers:
- Submit an application to your respective Booth Level Officer (BLO).
- The BLO will conduct a door-to-door survey.
- After collection of the info it will be sent for processing.
After submitting your details through any of the above methods, you can check the status of your application by visiting the NVSP portal, and entering the information as mentioned in the section “Seeding Through NVSP Portal”.
Mobile SIM Cards
A user need not link Aadhaar with mobile if he opts for eKYC. It is an Aadhaar-based activation process, which uses biometrics at the time of taking new connections. Apart from this, it is compulsory for prepaid and postpaid subscribers to complete the eKYC process.
The Aadhaar card can be linked to a SIM card using the following steps:
- Visit the nearest centre of your respective telecom operator.
- Submit the mobile number and Aadhaar card details.
- Get the 4-digit verification code, which is an OTP to the user’s mobile number from the re-verification application.
- The user has to submit the OTP to store executive and provide biometrics.
- The user will receive an SMS after 24 hours. Reply “Y” to complete the e-KYC process.
Driving License and Registration
The linking of Aadhaar with your Driving License and Registration can be done through the Road and Transport Department websites of all states:
- Visit the website.
- Select the ''Aadhaar Number Entry''.
- Select the ''Search Element'' as Registration number or License.
- Enter your Registration or License number selected.
- Click on the ''Get Details" icon and your vehicle details will be shown.
- You will be shown an Aadhaar number and mobile number column.
- Enter your 12 digits Aadhaar number with valid phone number.
- Click on submit and confirmation message will be sent to your mobile number.
Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System
This system allows organisations to create a centralised database of attendance for their organisation, by pulling data from the Aadhaar database. It can be created by following these steps:
- The nodal officer in an organisation needs to submit the duly processed request to attendance.gov.in portal. After the completion of formalities, he will be issued an user name and password.
- The nodal officer then needs to login to attendance.gov.in, and create a master list of locations of their offices, designation of their offices, and divisions/units/groups within their organisation.
- After this the employee can start registering on-line either at attendance.gov.in by submitting their details along with their Aadhaar number.
Public Welfare
Social Security Schemes:
- The Government has mandated the furnishing of Aadhaar number for taking benefit from all social security schemes.
- The deadline for linking Aadhaar with various government schemes was originally December 31, 2017 but this has now been extended to March 31, 2018.
Death Certificate:
- Aadhaar numbers have been made a pre-requisite for the issuance of death certificates. This rule has come into force from October 1, 2017. It applies to all states, except Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya and Assam; they will also be covered under this rule, but at a later date.
- If the deceased does not possess Aadhaar, the person applying for the certificate will have to provide a certificate stating the same.
LPG Subsidy:
- To get LPG subsidy for cooking gas (LPG), the Government has mandated that proof of possession of Aadhaar needs to be given. Only then will the subsidy amount be transferred to the account of the concerned person.
- The Government currently gives subsidised rates for 12 cylinders of 14.2 kg per household in a year.
Concessional Railway Ticket Booking:
- Indian Railways offers concessional ticket rates to people falling in more than 50 categories such as eminent artists, senior citizens and sports persons.
- From July 1, 2017 any person looking to get these rates will have to show their Aadhaar cards.
What Are The Benefits Of Linking?
Smooth Identification Process
- Aadhaar linkage to essential services will help in bringing about a more streamlined process. Moreover, it will eliminate the need of multiple documents for verification purposes.
- The individual will only need to give his/her Aadhaar number, and all his personal as well as biometric details can be accessed from the centralised database, by an authorised entity.
Better Delivery of Social Security
- An Aadhaar number is unique to the person it belongs to. The biometric details of the card holder are stored in a database corresponding to their Aadhaar number. Hence, chances of the account holder being a fake are almost nil.
- This will help immensely in eliminating fraud and better delivering social benefits to those who really need it.
Direct Benefit Transfer and Prevention of Leakage
Direct benefit transfer is a great benefit that comes with Aadhaar. With Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts, government subsidies and monetary benefits from other welfare schemes can now be directly credited to the concerned person’s bank account. This plugs leakages and makes the whole system more efficient.
Preventing Tax Evasion
- It is now compulsory to link bank accounts and PAN cards with Aadhaar; it is also necessary for filing tax returns. Doing so has widened the tax net and reduced the number of fake PAN cards, thereby contributing to reduction in cases of tax evasion.
- The linkage will also enable the Government to keep an eye on the assessee’s expenditure and his declared income.
Ensuring National Security
The centralised Aadhaar database can be used by the law enforcement and defence agencies of India, to track elements that have destructive designs towards our nation.
Deadlines to watch out for: