Aadhaar issue: Airtel slips nearly 3% after UIDAI order to suspend e-KYC license

Shares of Bharti Airtel tumbled on Monday after the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) ordered a temporary suspension of the telecom giant’s Aadhaar linked e-KYC services.
 
Airtel’s shares opened 2.75% or 14.25 points down at Rs 504.70 per share.
 
At 0949 hours Airtel shares edged up 0.29% or 1.50 points to Rs 520.45 per share on the BSE Sensex.

UIDAI on Sunday suspended Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank’s e-KYC license for alleged misuse of the facility.
 
Commenting on suspension of its license, Airtel in a BSE filing said, “This is to inform you that on December 16, 2017, Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) and Airtel Payments Bank Limited (APBL) (a subsidiary of Airtel), have been served with an Interim Order dated December 15, 2017 by the Unique Identification Authority of India, Government of India ('UIDAI') directing suspension of the e-KYC license key of Airtel / APBL with immediate effect. The company is engaging with UIDAI to resolve this at the earliest.”
 
Subscribers of Airtel had earlier alleged that the company had opened bank accounts in Airtel Payments Bank when they used the ‘Aadhaar linked e-KYC services’. This was done without customer consent.
 
The "Aadhaar linked e-KYC" service of UIDAI provides an instant, electronic, non-repudiable proof of identity and proof of address along with date of birth and gender, resident`s mobile number and email address to the service provider.
 
Earlier this month, Airtel responded to UIDAI probing its Aadhaar linked e-KYC services with, “We confirm that the company is dealing with the notices received from the authority and is in the process of providing the response thereto. We wish to clarify that the re-verification for mobile phones and the opening of Airtel Payment Bank Accounts are separate transactions and not linked,” the company added.