Bharti Airtel has deposited an interim penalty of Rs 2.5 crore with the Aadhaar-issuing body Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) after an action against the telecom operator for allegedly opening payments bank accounts of its mobile subscribers without their informed consent.
The company is learnt to have given the assurance that it will return Rs 190 crore that had flown into the ‘unsolicited’ payments bank accounts of 31 lakh mobile subscribers over the next 24 hours and will also inform the customers that their subsidy-linked account is being switched back to the originally-chosen account.
Bharti Airtel is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations across Asia and Africa.
