In a landmark move, the Hon. President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind promulgated the ‘Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019’ on Saturday, 2nd March 2019. Through this ordinance, three important acts stay amended as on date – The Aadhaar Act, 2016, The Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act, 2002.
Lending a statutory basis to various regulations, the ordinance comes as a welcome relief to Public/Private sector Enterprises who were eagerly waiting for a directive on the constitutional validity of Offline KYC after the Hon. Supreme Court’s verdict last year that disallowed them to use Aadhaar Authentication services.
To truly understand the ordinance’s fine print and its implications, it is critical to read the amendments along with the original version of the corresponding Acts.
Here is our humble attempt to shed some light on the new amendments to the Aadhaar Act and PMLA Act. Let’s begin!
Part 1 – Amendment 1: Enforcement Date
“Ordinance shall come into effect at once.”
Key Implications
1. The new amendments have legally come into force on the date of promulgation i.e. on 2nd March 2019.
2. Offline KYC has already been recognised as a legally valid mechanism of performing Digital e-KYC.
Part II – Amendments to the ‘Definitions’ section of the Aadhaar Act
Amendment 1: Definition of Aadhaar Number
Amendment 2: Inclusion of the definition of ‘Aadhaar Ecosystem’
Amendment 3: Inclusion of clause ‘pa’ related to the definition of ‘Offline Verification’
Amendment 4: Inclusion of clause ‘pb’ related to the definition of ‘Offline Verification-seeking Entity’
Amendment 5: Insertion of Sub-section 3 of Section 4 relating to the voluntary use of Aadhaar
Amendment 6: Insertion of Section 8A related to ‘Offline Verification / Offline KYC’
Amendment 7: Amendments to Part 4 – Chapter 4 of PMLA Act, 2002
Queries / confusions? Feel free to get in touch with our colleague Amit Joshi on +91 9820875524 / 7208155528 or email him on amit@eastcs.com.
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