UIDAI allows Airtel Aadhaar-based verification till March 31

The UIDAI has extended the temporary permission given to Bharti Airtel for using the Aadhaar-based biometric identity for re-verification of its mobile customers till March 31.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had last month allowed Airtel to use Aadhaar for re-verification of its mobile customers till January 10 with stiff riders after the company returned a Rs 138 crore LPG subsidy which flowed into payment bank accounts.

However, the UIDAI maintained that Airtel Payments Bank's e-KYC licence will remain suspended till the final enquiry and audit report, sources in the authority said.

An Airtel spokesperson also confirmed that the UIDAI has permitted Bharti Airtel to continue Aadhaar based e-KYC till March 31, 2018.

"We continue to engage with the authorities and have addressed all concerns that they have raised. Compliance to all guidelines is of paramount importance to us and we remain committed to this," the Airtel spokesperson said.

Both Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank had come under fire after the Sunil Mittal-led firm  reportedly opened accounts of its mobile phone subscribers without seeking their "informed consent" and LPG subsidy worth crores was deposited into them.

The government acted swiftly in the matter and the UIDAI had temporarily barred the company from conducting Aadhaar-based SIM verification of mobile customers using the e-KYC process and e-KYC of payments bank clients.

However, keeping in mind the convenience of customers and also the looming March 31 deadline given by the Supreme Court for mobile SIM re-verification, UIDAI on December 21 allowed Bharti Airtel to use Aadhaar for re-verification of its mobile customers till January 10 with stiff riders.