Trident group links Aadhaar with salary account to avoid fake data

NEW DELHI: The Trident group has become the first corporate in the country to disburse salaries leveraging the Aadhaar payment bridge (APB), backing government's claim of the immense utility of this system in combating frauds. "Linking Aadhaar number to the salary accounts of the employees will help the company in saving verification cost and weed out fake data," Rajinder Gupta, chairman of Trident group, said, adding that the company will also use Aadhaar numbers in its recruitment process.

Pitching Aadhaar as the biggest anti-corruption initiative, Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani said the platform can be used by government, corporate establishments as well as individual consumers to streamline payments and reduce fraud. "I think the fact that they (Trident Group) have used that (Aadhaar number), and it is helping them to reduce fraud in the system to make sure that people don't apply under different names to make their salary payment streamline."

Nilekani was hopeful that in the coming years, more institutions will incorporate Aadhaar in their system for identification, transfer of payments and to mitigate corruption. "The programme can help identify ghosts and remove any duplication in systems...It can help the government save on subsidies by ensuring funds are transferred to the right beneficiary...this will bring about fiscal efficiency," Nilekani said.

APB facilitates seamless transfer of payments to Aadhaar Enabled Bank Account (AEBA). It is a payment gateway platform created by National Payments Corporation of India and is used by the government for direct transfer of certain government benefits.

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Aadhaar is one of the biggest reforms launched by the UPA government that could help plug leakages in distribution of various subsidies.