Parliament Diary

The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was introduced in Lok Sabha today. Some key highlights of the Bill include:

• The Bill amends the Aadhaar Act 2016, the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
   
• The Bill additionally allows for ‘offline verification’ of an individual’s identity, without authentication, through such modes as specified by regulations drafted by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).   
   
• The Bill states that an individual may voluntarily use his Aadhaar number to establish his identity. 
   
• Amendments to the Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 provided under the Bill state that persons granted a license to maintain a telegraph, banking companies and financial institutions may verify the identity of their clients by either (i) offline verification or authentication of Aadhaar, (ii) passport, or (iii) any other documents notified by the central government.
   
• The Bill defines the Aadhaar ecosystem to include enrolling agencies, requesting agencies, and offline verification-seeking entities.  It allows the UIDAI to issue directions to any entity in the ecosystem as it considers necessary for the discharge of its functions under the Act.    

The House discussed issues relating to the Rafael deal for the remainder of the day.

The Speaker of Lok Sabha suspended several members, mostly from AIADMK for willfully disturbing the House under Rule 374A of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. These members have been suspended for 5 consecutive sittings.

The Monthly Policy Review for the month of December can be read here.

Some key highlights:

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology invited comments on the Information Technology [Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules] 2018
   
• Revised policy on FDI in e-commerce announced
   
• Guidelines and standards for charging infrastructure for electric vehicles released
   
• Union Cabinet approves Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2018
   
• Standing Committee on Labour submits its report on the Code on Wages, 2017