Aadhaar to become mandatory for buying shares, mutual funds?

With growing interjection of UIDAI' Aadhaar in tow citizens lives comes another one. The Economic Times on Thursday reported that the government and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) are planning to make Aadhaar number mandatory for buying shares and mutual funds. 

The report said, "The government and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) are planning to link Aadhaar to financial market transactions to try and curb sharp practices such as conversion of black money into white through the stock market."

The newspaper quoted two sources as saying that PAN (permanent account number) may  be insufficient to plug tax leaks and that is where Aadhaar can pitch in. 

The government has already it compulsory to link Aadhaar with PAN to file income tax returns. Although the notification was challenged in the Supreme Court of India who later ruled that persons in possession of their Aadhaar numbers must link it to PAN in order to file their income tax returns while those who are yet to apply for Aadhaar numbers are exempt from doing so. 

Earlier this month, the transport ministry too floated a rule that may make it compulsory to link Aadhaar with driving licences. 

The home ministry, in a notification in August, stated that Aadhaar must be quoted for death registrations. The ministry further said that if Aadhaar number of the deceased is not available then the family must give a written undertaking explaining that to the best of their knowledge the are not in possession of the deceased Aadhaar number. 

The ET report further said, "Top Sebi officials have informally sounded out select market intermediaries about the possibility of linking Aadhaar to financial market transactions, a top official with a financial services firm familiar with the development said."