Moreover, the bill would allow minors registered with Aadhaar to opt out of the system at the age of 18 years old, and put more severe penalties in place for violating Aadhaar regulations. In the case of voluntary use, service providers would be barred from storing the biometric data or Aadhaar number of the customer, and from denying service to those who do not volunteer for Aadhaar verification.
On the other hand, telecom service providers would be able to verify customers through offline Aadhaar verification, a passport, or other official documents approved by the government. However, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will apply and enforce regulations if the bill passes.
Entities violating the Aadhaar Act could face civil penalties of up to USD 140,000, with additional daily penalties up to USD 14,000 for continued failure to comply. Unauthorised use of identity information would become punishable by up to 3 years in prison, along with fines, while unauthorised access to the central database or data tampering could be punished by up to 10 years in prison.
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