Govt Allows Banks To Use Facial Recognition, Iris Scanning For Some Transactions

The Indian government has reportedly allowed banks to use facial recognition technology to verify individual transactions that exceed a certain annual limit in a bid to reduce fraud and tax evasion.

Sources aware of the development told Reuters that the new steps, which also include iris scan in some cases, could be used to verify identities of individuals who make bank deposits and withdrawals exceeding INR 20 Lakh in a financial year. 

A few large private and public banks have already started using the face recognition method, one of the sources told the news agency. 

So far, no public advisory has been issued about the verification method.

Besides, the usage of these methods is not mandatory and is intended for cases where the Permanent Account Number (PAN) is not shared with banks, as per the report.

Earlier, many have criticised the use of face recognition technology by the central and state governments in India in the absence of a robust data protection law. According to the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), there are at least 29 ongoing facial recognition technology projects being helmed by state and city police departments throughout the country for investigation and surveillance purposes. 

Last year, the law firm also submitted its comments to a paper released by NITI Aayog, titled ‘Responsible AI’. The IFF pointed out several issues relating to the paper, which talked about establishing a framework for the responsible and safe development and deployment of facial recognition technology in the country.

The Indian government released the much-awaited and debated new draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill in November last year. The Bill is expected to be passed by July-August 2023.