Mr Dhapre's Aadhaar number has been used by scamsters for obtaining SIM cards, opening bank accounts, and even creating seller accounts on e-commerce portals for duping people. Everyday someone or other lands up at his door seeking 'refund' of his/her money of which Mr Dhapre has no idea whatsoever.
"His case highlights how easy it is to impersonate someone with just a copy of their Aadhaar card, and how important it is to guard it just as one would a credit card or a bank account number," the report says.
Quoting from a first information report (FIR) filed by Mr Dhapre at VP Road Police Station in Mumbai, the newspaper report says, he had registered for his Aadhaar in 2012. "Three years later, an officer from Mundhva police station in Pune arrived at his house, suspecting that he had been harassing a woman over the phone. Mr Dhapre had to travel to Pune to record his statement. It turned out that the man behind the harassment had used Mr Dhapre’s Aadhaar card to get know-your-customer (KYC) done for not just the mobile connection in question, but two others as well."
Not just mobile numbers, fraudsters have even used Mr Dhapre's Aadhaar for opening a bank account, which he came to know only in 2017. Mumbai Mirror says, "...in 2017, he went to a bank to open a joint account with his father. He furnished his Aadhaar card but was told it could not be accepted as it had already been linked with another bank account. Mr Dhapre wrote an email to the bank at once, saying his Aadhaar card had been misused."
When Mr Dhapre searched Google for his name, to his shock, he found a copy of his Aadhaar had been posted on several portals. "He soon learned that someone using his name and Aadhaar number had opened an account on a shopping website and duped several people with the false promise of selling them branded electronic gadgets. Soon enough, victims of these fraudsters began showing up at Mr Dhapre’s door, demanding their money back. Many created a scene and even warned him of ‘consequences’ if he didn’t return their money," the report says.
What is more shocking is Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the de-facto numbering agency, has almost no mechanism or system to address such grievances.
When Mr Dhapre approached UIDAI, he was told that while his Aadhaar number could not be changed, it could be cancelled and that he should do so. He told Mumbai Mirror that “I approached UIDAI but they have no way of changing someone’s Aadhaar number. They said I should de-activate my account but that is not a solution. They wanted me to lodge a complaint for every single fraudulent transaction. That is an impossible task. They need to have a better solution to my problem as I am suffering for no fault of my own.”
As per the provisions of Sections 27 and 28 of Aadhaar Act, a person's Aadhaar can be cancelled or deactivated if multiple Aadhaar numbers have been issued, or there are discrepancies in the biometric data or supporting documents. But there is nothing in the law about misuse or impersonating of an Aadhaar number-holder at multiple places.
Interestingly, the Aadhaar Act under Chapter IV- 29 prohibits publishing, displaying or posting publicly any Aadhaar number. This is a punishable offence under Chapter VII 38 (g), which says…
(g) reveals any information in contravention of sub-section (5) of section 28, or shares, uses or displays information in contravention of section 29 or assists any person in any of the aforementioned acts;
Last year, UIDAI itself had said, "Do not publish any personal identifiable data including Aadhaar in public domain/ websites etc. Publication of Aadhaar details is punishable under Aadhaar Act.”
This clarification was outcome of a fiasco when RS Sharma, chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), shared publicly his Aadhaar number and challenged to reveal his personal details. Within moments, several people revealed Mr Sharma's personal information, like permanent account number (PAN), his date of birth, mobile numbers, and residential address. Some even claimed to have created a profile of Mr Sharma using his Aadhaar number on e-shopping sites using these credentials.
Mr Sharma, former director general (DG) and mission director of UIDAI, neither accepted nor rejected whether the information revealed on Twitter belonged to him.
According to senior advocate Arvind P Datar, the disclosure of Mr Sharma's Aadhaar number in a tweet could be in violation of Regulation 6 of the Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Regulations, 2016, which states that the number of an individual shall not be published, displayed or posted publicly by any person or entity or agency.
In its tweet on 31 July 2018, UIDAI had stated "Any person indulging in such acts or abetting or inciting others to do so makes themselves liable for prosecution and penal action under the law. Therefore, people should refrain from such acts."
However, in case of Mr Dhapre, UIDAI has no solution, except for asking him to de-activate his Aadhaar number and face multiple consequences. This means if he deactivates his Aadhar number, all his linked bank accounts, mobile SIMs, and PAN card would become dead, which not just Mr Dhapre, but anyone in similar situation cannot afford or even think about.
According to the report, Mr Dhapre has also filed complaint with the cybercrime police station, but there still is no respite to him since his case was forwarded to the local police station for further investigation.
“There was no relief. People would keep coming to my house. In October a man from Bhiwandi came to my home claiming that I had taken Rs17,000 from him for an iPhone but had never given him the gadget. It was only when I explained everything in detail to him that the man calmed down and left,” Mr Dhapre was quoted by the newspaper as saying in his statement to the police.
He told the newspaper, “My life has become hell. I receive at least two or three authentication-failure emails a day, apart from several anonymous calls and messages, which indicate that people are trying to use my Aadhaar somewhere. Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana… the list is endless. I also have a toddler at home, and random men turning up at my home every day, sometimes in my absence, is scary.”
“Whenever I inquire with the police, their only response is: ‘We are investigating’. There is no relief in sight. Even the cybercrime cell has not been able to help erase my details online,” Mr Dhapre had said.
On his Facebook, Mr Dhapre has put up a warning message saying, “My name being used for online fraud transaction. Immediately log police complaint against that person.”
It is important to remember that UIDAI has been legally structured in a manner that is not answerable to people, nor is it obliged to complete any updations or explain why something takes so long.
On its website, UIDAI had listed possible criminal penalties from the Aadhaar Act. Two such penalties that can be used in Mr Dhapre's case are "Impersonation by providing false demographic or biometric information is an offence and appropriating the identity of an Aadhaar number holder by changing or attempting to change the demographic and biometric information of an Aadhaar number holder is an offence, both attracts imprisonment for three years and a fine of Rs10,000."
While Mr Dhapre's case is unique, the internet is full of Aadhaar records of many residents. A simple search can reveal Aadhaar data of hundreds, if not thousands, of the UID holders.
Yet, Aadhaar continued to being touted as the biggest tool of empowerment in India by politicians and highly educated tech-czars who stand to profit from its widespread use, doesn’t matter the hardship and nightmares caused to ordinary people.
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This is what has been touted by UIDAI and its founders-promoters. But in practice, the moment you share the number, all your personal details are flashed. Kindly visit, any mobile operator's service center & check how Aadhaar is used in practice.
UIDAI admitted, in response to a RTI (Right to Information) query, that it does not certify the identity, address, date of birth, resident status or existence of any individual or any Aadhaar number. Even the US has been warning about misuse if the SSN, which by the way does not have biometrics, like Aadhaar.
You may want to read more
https://www.moneylife.in/article/aadhaar-a-primer/53534.html
MLF has done wonders to make people aware of financial problems but it cannot be the go-to organization for all ills affecting our society.
We need independent social organizations dedicated to fighting specific ills. For example one devoted solely for Aadhar and its problems. Such an organization must have an annual membership so that the dues can support a paid staff to carry out the leg work. It is a lot of work and one cannot expect volunteers to do this. Yes, an organization like this will have free riders but if there are enough paid members, it can survive. Or else, it can charge for pursuing and solving each case of wrongdoing. If it is a non-profit organization, transparent in its functioning and open to constructive criticism, it could set an example by guiding the public to take the matters of improving governance in their own hands.
We need individual organizations dedicated to so many problems like sanitation, improving use of water, improving traffic, the list is endless. But we cannot be daunted, one must begin somewhere.
MLF can be a midwife to such organizations by guiding their birth and their growth. We have so much expertise in our society which is wasted after people retire. Let us unleash the power of the people.
I can but reiterate my appreciation for the latter and would have only hoped that they would have led a mass campaign against this dystopian card like the opposition at present to the CAA.
But with our judiciary too compromising on what constitutes justice, both in terms of the quality of the judgements and the inordinate delay (there should not be a single case pending in any court over 6 months), there is very little than an ordinary citizen can do except try and bear the disfunctionality (sic) in our society.
One day society shall implode, much to all our sadness.
I have been a vociferous critic of this lousy card right from its inception under UPA and at that time filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court at my personal expense, only to have it dismissed in 2 minutes and being given the palliative for me to join the one pending in the SC.
Not having the the time or money to do so, I just refused to get an Aadhaar Card till the SC in all its ill-wisdom gave the ruling of linking it with your PAN. Having done so, I continue to not share/link this idiotic card for any other purpose. In doing so I am constantly faced with having to fight with different authorities/agencies, be it the banks, highway authorities, RTO, etc..
My only purpose of enumerating this at length is to indicate that an individual has to take responsibility to safeguard his/her privacy, liberty and freedom.
We don't and never have needed a Maa-Baap Sarkar for anything to do with the well-being of the nation and definitely not for any largesse to an individual. All things we ever have, are our Right and we can safely do without the interference of the State in our lives. Every time the State claims to do anything for the citizen, it is but to pull the wool over their eyes. Unfortunately, the latter much less from being realised by the masses, is welcomed, endorsed and propagated by the cognitively-challenged.
However, it might not be remiss to quote from an article by Alok Rai in today's Indian Express, which though in relation George Steiner's exploration of what the Nazi experience had meant for the German language, is quite germane when taken in context of what the State in India and specially this dispensation, dishes out to its citizens. All in the guise of a benign benefactor and convinces a substantial populace that this is what is good for the nation. The truth sadly is, that such schemes are good for consolidating power over (not for) the citizen.
"Everything forgets. But not language. When it has been injected with falsehood, only the most drastic truth can cleanse it...Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity do not easily resume life. Languages have great reserves of life. They can absorb masses of hysteria, illiteracy and cheapness...But there comes a breaking point. Use a language to to conceive, organise and justify Belsen (a Nazi concentration camp for Jews created in north-western Germany during World War II), use it to dehumanise man... Something will happen to it. Something of the lies and the sadism will settle in the marrow of the language. Imperceptibly at first, like the poison of radiation sifting silently into the bone. But the cancer will begin...."
It does not take an Edward Snowden (post by MDT below) to tell us the Orwellian nature behind the setting-up of UIDAI and the Aadhaar Card, now dovetailing into facial recognition and mass surveillance to stem protest (violent or non-violent hardly matters) and stifle, if not stamp out, disagreement in thought or word.
I sadly predict that for all the effort Moneylife has made and supportive comments such as this, the core who continue to believe in Aadhaar as a panacea will continue unabated.
UIDAI admitted, in response to a RTI (Right to Information) query, that it does not certify the identity, address, date of birth, resident status or existence of any individual or any Aadhaar number.
You may want to read more
https://www.moneylife.in/article/unique-id-is-not-unique-does-not-certify-anything-says-uidai/53003.html
.
There are number of petitions filed before the Supreme Court. But either there is no hearing or delay in hearing all cases related with Aadhaar.
You may want to read more
https://www.moneylife.in/article/aadhaar-judgement-5th-review-petition-filed-in-the-supreme-court/55987.html
I am aware many of my friends are duped .
Well done and do keep it up.
To paraphrase and translate what I mentioned to the Toll authorities (very much applicable to the vile card in question) when my attempt to pay for the new FastTag failed on a national highway due to net connectivity disappearing, "when the infrastructure for such grandiose schemes remains so pathetic, learn how to to wash your own bums before ramming things down the throat of the whole nation."
The entire fault is there are way to many loopholes and the govt is 100% to be blamed.
There are no bigger liars in the country that Modishah.
According to world-known whistle-blower Edword Snowden, Aadhaar Is a Mass Surveillance Tool and There Should Be Criminal Penalty for Its Misuse (there are none, as you can see from Mr Dhapre's experience).
Also over the years, and after helping several, we often found people getting in to a realisation mode only when it hits them.
You may want to read more
https://www.moneylife.in/article/aadhaar-is-a-mass-surveillance-tool-and-there-should-be-criminal-penalty-for-its-misuse-says-edward-snowden/55088.html
I find it hard to understand as usually MLF has been in the forefront of change.
One point could be that the more aggregate data the govt has on a citizen, the easier it is to track the person. That is a valid fear.
If there are other similar concerns then MLF should voice them so the readers can engage in a constructive dialogue.