Hyderabad: People line-up at banks over fake Aadhaar alert

Hyderabad: Geetha Naik, 52, of Vahini Nagar, Sikh Village, received a message on March 12, 2018, from Axis Bank with a header saying “Government Mandate, Your Aadhaar linkage has failed, to avoid blocking of your Axis bank account by 31/03/18, visit your branch.” Following this, the 52-year-old said, “I took my grandson along to Bowenpally (centre point branch). After standing in the queue for nearly 20 minutes, the staffer after verifying my account informed me that my Aadhaar linkage is successful.”

Unverified bulk messages like “We regret to inform you that your attempt to update Aadhaar has failed due to a difference in your details updated with the bank & UIDAI. We request you to visit the nearest branch at the earliest” from certain banks are proving a hassle to customers. But in reality, many of these customers’ accounts are already linked with their Aadhaar.  An insider of a regional bank said such messages were programmed months ago and are being sent now.

Another Ms Ananya (name changed) who received a similar message from Standard Chartered bank, said, “The text read my Aadhaar card linkage has failed and I need to update it to avoid transactions being blocked. I rushed to the regional branch the same afternoon only to hear the banker say my Aadhaar has been linked and there is no issue. Such messages panic account holders, especially senior citizens living on a pension who fear even that personal revenue being blocked.” 

Another problem prevailing at the banks was that staffers hesitate to link accounts with Aadhaar cards if the customers’ full names are not printed on their cards. Those having initials printed instead of full name have a tough time answering several questions. Thogota Arvind Reddy of Erramanzil faced a tough time as the bank employee did not accept his Aadhaar card as his name read T Arvind Reddy. “I have been a longtime customer of SBI through which I'm currently drawing my pension, even then they asked my details out of suspicion,” said Mr Reddy.

An insider from a regional bank said, “These messages were programmed when the banks starting asking for Aadhaar card account, linkage and few more messages were structured to inform customers if their linkage has failed, however since the messages are sent in bulk, they end up reaching those whose linkage is successful. Messages are sent through shortcode gateways to all customers registered with the bank. In case the customer has linked his/her Aadhaar and there is no block in transactions, this message should be ignored or reported to the bank.”