Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) on Friday commenced the enrolment process for issuance of unique identification number (Aadhaar) for its customers and staff of the bank. The enrolment process which has begun at the head office will move in phases to the branches across the country, OBC’s Chairman and Managing Director, Mr T.Y. Prabhu, said here today.
There is no specific timeline by when all the 16,000 employees and 1.6 crore customers will be covered, Mr Prabhu noted.
“OBC is the first bank in the banking industry to commence the enrolment process for issuance of UID which includes both demographic and biometric details,” he said after inaugurating the enrolment process at the head office of the bank. Mr Prabhu was the first person in OBC to enrol for a UID.
Mr Prabhu said that the launch of the unique identification number (UID) enrolment process will accelerate efforts in the financial inclusion activities undertaken by the bank by using hi-tech biometric based ATMs and use of UID in financial transactions.
According to the current arrangement, UIDAI will pay Rs 50 to OBC for every UID allotted through the bank. OBC had in August this year signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UIDAI for taking up the role of a registrar.
The issuance of Aadhaar numbers had formally kicked off end September with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, handing out UID numbers to residents of Tembhli village in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra.
Since then the UIDAI has rapidly ramped up enrolments for the Aadhaar number across seven States – Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Earlier this week, UIDAI said it has crossed one lakh enrolments, with the issue of Aadhaar number to a resident of Tumkur, Karnataka.
When contacted, UIDAI DG, Mr R.S Sharma, told Business Line that with the official launch in September, all the States are now gearing-up for enrolments in a big way. “However, I cannot give-out monthly target at this point,” Mr Sharma said.
The Government has earlier said that the first set of 10 crore UID numbers are expected to be issued between August 2010 and March 2011. Thereafter, 600 million (or 60 crore) UID numbers are expected to be issued within the next three years.
