The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), on Thursday said that Business organisations using Aadhaar services will now have to pay an amount of Rs 20 for each customer verification and 50 paise for authentication of each transaction carried out by the entities. "Aadhaar authentication services shall be charged at the rate of Rs. 20 (including taxes) for each e-KYC transaction and Rs. 0.50 (including taxes) for each Yes and No authentication transaction from requesting entities", stated a notification issued by the UIDAI.
However, the gazette notification of the Aadhaar (Pricing of Aadhaar Authentication Services) Regulations 2019 has exempted government entities and the Department of Posts from authentication transaction charges. "The entities have been incurring a cost of Rs. 150-200 per KYC sans Aadhaar. They have been demanding to use Aadhaar-based authentication and KYC services on account of these being convenient to them and their customers and also the fact that they will save huge amount which they currently incur in doing KYC through traditional means such as paper, physical verification, etc", said an official source.
According to the notification, the entities are required to deposit the authentication transaction charges within 15 days of issuance of the concerned invoice, based on the usage. The delay in payment beyond 15 days shall attract interest compounded at 1.5 per cent per month and discontinuation of authentication and e-KYC services. It has also been informed by sources that if an existing requesting entity (except those exempt), continues to use Aadhaar authentication services beyond the date of publication of these regulations, it shall be deemed to have agreed to the specified authentication charges.