Aadhaar Must For Cricket Fans Vying For IPL 2018 Tickets
Aadhaar was made mandatory for selling tickets at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy and other stadiums of the nation last year.
New Delhi, May 5: Despite the recent Supreme Court ruling which stayed the government order making Aadhaar linkage mandatory to avail all services, ticket vendor of Indian Premier League (IPL) matches has denied to sell seats to the cricket fans if they do not furnish their biometric identity number.
Mera Events, which books the tickets for IPL matches, said the Aadhaar cards prevent fraudulent sale or ticket-blocking being done using multiple ID proofs. The agency further assures that all data collected from the customers will not be breached. "These details will be encrypted and safely stored," it was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
Fans, however, have questioned the rationale behind the move, claiming that their biometric information is not verified while entering the stadium premises with the tickets.
Aadhaar was made mandatory for selling tickets at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy and other stadiums of the nation last year. However, with the Supreme Court putting the mandatory usage of Aadhaar on hold, the continuance of the practice might amount to contempt of the court.
According to Srinivas Kodali, a tech security whistle-blower, forcing consumers to furnish their Aadhaar number for the sale of of a particular service is violation of the top court's order.
In the past month, the apex court categorically instructed the government to prevent telecom service providers to seek Aadhaar numbers as the mandatory proof of identity verification. Following the judiciary's instruction, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan instructed the private companies to accept driving card licence, passport or Voter ID as alternative identity proofs.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 05, 2018 06:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).