Airtel deposits Rs. 2.5 crore 'interim penalty' with the UIDAI

Airtel has deposited an interim penalty of R2.5 crore with Aadhaar-issuing body UIDAI after an action against the telecom operator for allegedly opening payments bank accounts of its mobile subscribers without their 'informed consent', according to s

Airtel has deposited an interim penalty of R2.5 crore with Aadhaar-issuing body UIDAI after an action against the telecom operator for allegedly opening payments bank accounts of its mobile subscribers without their 'informed consent', according to sources. The company is learnt to have given the assurance that it will return R190 crore that had flown into the 'unsolicited' payments bank accounts of 31 lakh mobile subscribers over the next 24 hours and will also inform the customers that their subsidy-linked account is being switched back to the originally-chosen account.

Consumer nod must
To avoid a repeat of the fiasco, the UIDAI yesterday directed banks to seek an explicit consent of the beneficiary before changing the account to which the government subsidy is being remitted. The UIDAI also ordered PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an audit of Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank to ascertain if their systems and processes are in compliance with the Aadhaar Act.

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