Aadhaar not compulsory for booking rail tickets, says govt

The Centre on Friday informed Rajya Sabha that Aadhaar number is not mandatory for booking rail tickets.

In a written reply in the Upper House of Parliament, Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain asserted that as of now, the government has no plan to make the 12-digit unique identification number mandatory for train reservation.

He further added, “At present, there is no proposal to make the Aadhaar number compulsory for booking tickets for rail journey.  However, with effect from January 1, 2017, the requirement of Aadhaar verification for getting concessional railway tickets for senior citizens has been introduced on a voluntary basis.”

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The minister’s statement comes on a day the home ministry made the Aadhaar number mandatory for registration of death with effect from October 1, 2017.

Over the last few months, the Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for a range of services and schemes—for bank accounts, to file taxes, for tuberculosis patients to avail treatment under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), to avail the benefits under the Maternity Benefit Programme and Integrated Child Protection Scheme and other schemes for farmers, labourers, students etc. (With PTI Inputs)

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