Aadhaar: What happens to firms like Jio, Paytm as SC strikes down sec 57?

Section 57 gave birth to e-KYC, which allowed companies like Reliance Jio to rapidly acquire new users. Will bringing in a new law allow pvt entities to regain access to Aadhaar?

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday indicated that the Centre would examine whether separate legal backing is needed for Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, a provision which allows private entities access to the core Aadhaar database.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, which deals with private entities, and read down a few others, stating that they were unconstitutional.

“If it is backed by law, it is not unconstitutional,” Jaitley said when asked about Supreme Court striking down Section 57, which allows ‘any body corporate or person’ or ‘private entity’ to demand Aadhaar.