Aadhaar verdict: How to delink Aadhaar from bank account, mobile wallets and more

The Supreme Court in its historic Aadhaar verdict struck down some of the provisions of the Centre's flagship scheme including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions. The apex court, however, held the world's largest biometric scheme as constitutionally valid.

The court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which allows private entities to demand Aadhaar to access their services. FILE PIC/AFP.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court in its historic Aadhaar verdict struck down some of the provisions of the Centre's flagship scheme including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions. The apex court, however, held the world's largest biometric scheme as constitutionally valid. The court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which allows private entities to demand Aadhaar to access their services. The court also said that as of today "we do not find anything in Aadhaar Act which violates right to privacy of individual citizen". Services requiring Aadhaar linking: *It is mandatory to link PAN with Aadhaar. * Aadhaar is compulsory for filing Income Tax returns. * Aadhaar must for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies. Services not requiring Aadhaar linking: * It is not mandatory to link bank account with Aadhaar. * Telecom service providers cannot ask for linking mobile number with Aadhaar. * CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory. * Aadhaar not compulsory for school admissions. * No child can be denied benefits of any schemes on not being able to bring Aadhaar. Now, digital wallets cannot demand Aadhaar data from customers in order to allow them to continue using the services. Also, telecom operators cannot force customers to link their Aadhaar card details with their numbers. Here's a how to delink your Aadhaar number from Paytm, e-wallets, bank accounts and mobile numbers: The Compendium of Regulations, Circulars and Guidelines available on the official website of UIDAI states that the Aadhaar number holder can ask the service provider to delink his biometric details. "The Aadhaar number holder may, at any time, revoke consent given to a KUA for storing his e-KYC data or for sharing it with third parties, and upon such revocation, the KUA shall delete the e-KYC data and cease any further sharing," it said. You need to call on the customer care number of Paytm or any other mobile wallet asking to delink your Aadhaar details from account. 1: In case of Paytm, you need to call its customer care at 01204456456. 2. Ask them to send you an e-mail to unlink your Aadhaar details. 3: In the email, Paytm will ask you to attach a scanned copy of your Aadhaar. You need to reply back with the copy of Aadhaar card for validation purpose. 4: You will receive an email confirming the delinking of your Aadhaar within 72 hours from. Delink Aadhaar from your bank account Customers will be required to visit branch of their bank in order to delink their Aadhaar cards from bank accounts. 1: Visit a branch of your bank. 2: Ask them to provide you a form to unlink Aadhaar card from your bank account. 3: After submitting the form, your Aadhaar details will be delinked within 48 hours. Delink Aadhaar from your mobile numbers As of now, none of the mobile service providers gives you an option to delink Aadhaar but hopefully, it will be available in the coming weeks.