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High UIDAI charges leave banks stressed
Why it is in news?
- Bankers have questioned the “exorbitant” charges prescribed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for Aadhaar authentication services.Calling for a review of the charges, banks have warned that smaller lenders may have no option but to shift the burden to customers.Most of the non-scheduled UCBs are unit banks or have less than five branches. UCBs with a customer base of five crore are meeting the credit needs of the poor and marginal sections and playing an efficient role in financial inclusion and growth of the country.While there are about 1562 urban cooperative banks (UCBs) in India, officials in larger banks are also concerned about the UIDAI’s costs but are wary of placing it on record.Banks have to pay a fee of Rs.20 lakh with a validity of two years for production environment facility for authentication of Aadhaar.According to bankers, such high charges for enabling the Aadhaar environment for customers are not justifiable since the unique identification numbers were sought to be used for social objectives.The high charges are particularly affecting smaller banks and small finance banks
Source
The Hindu