The deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail various services and welfare schemes would shortly be extended till March 31 next year, the Centre today told the Supreme Court.
This extension would include 139 government subsidies, benefits or services, which are funded out of the Consolidated Fund of India as per Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act of 2016. The deadline for Aadhaar linkage for these services is currently December 31, 2017.
The statement was made by the Centre before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which said it may set up a five-judge Constitution bench next week to hear several pleas seeking an interim stay on the decision of mandatory linking of Aadhaar.
The extension would, in all likelihood, include the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts. Government lawyers in the Supreme Court said the extension of the deadline to March 31, 2018 in the case of Aadhaar-bank accounts linkage may be done in the next few days as this involved consultations with the Reserve Bank of India. So far, private citizens run the risk of being locked out of access to their own bank accounts if they do not link them with Aadhaar by December 31.
