It is two dimensional facial
recognition and since it can be
based on the picture that has
already been captured, someone
else with your picture can also
breach it. So they need to
implement three dimensional
facial recognition technology,
which is the latest.” Ankush
Johar, director at Infosec
Ventures, an infrastructure
security solutions company,
agrees: “Although adding an
extra layer of security for
Aadhaar card holders seems to
be a good initiative, adding
facial recognition might not do
much good as it is not too
difficult to replicate compared
to other biometrics.”
The second feature being
intoduced is of virtual ID.
Aadhaar users can generate
virtual ID, a 16-digit number, on
the UIDAI website and share the
same with various entities that
ask for it as part of their know-
your-customer (KYC) process. It
will act as a stand-in for the
actual 12-digit Aadhaar
number. UIDAI will start
accepting the Virtual ID from
March 1, 2018. And, June 1
onwards, all agencies involved in
the KYC ecosystem will have to
mandatorily accept it. They can
create as many Virtual IDs as
possible—it is a temporary
number that ceases to exist once
the user generates a fresh one.
The authorised agencies that
carry out the KYC process will
be able to complete the
verification using the Virtual ID
and the user’s biometrics.
Their access will now be
limited to details like name,
address and photograph. This
is part of UIDAI’s decision to
introduce limited KYC access
where the authorised entities
will be provided with only
need-based or limited details
of a user.
The virtual ID can be
generated only by the Aadhaar
holder by visiting the UIDAI
website, Aadhaar centers or
through the mAadhaar app.
“The introduction of Virtual ID
is a positive move. Even if there
is a breach at the vendor’s end,
the data of an individual will
stay protected,” says Tandon.
children’s education and retirement can be met through
regular investments of small amounts in mutual funds.
Another initiative - the Salary Advantage program allows
employees to invest their periodic reimbursements /incentive
payouts to a liquid fund account, helping them earn more on
their money compared to what they would have earned in a
savings fund. Employees may also receive a part of their salary
or their full salary in this account and enjoy market-linked
debt returns. Employees can further invest in mutual fund
schemes from the Reliance stable and get potential benefits
from investing in equity markets. “These programs are
conducted in consultation with the human resources team. An
introductory session is conducted for employees to answer
their queries. We have garnered a good response for the
program,” says Sikka.
By Anagh Pal
Mutual funds’
performance to be
evaluated on TRI basis
In a quest to enable investors to
evaluate the performance of a
scheme against an appropriate
benchmark, SEBI has asked AMCs
to compare their scheme
performances with the Total Return
Index (TRI) of the benchmark.
The regulator has emphasised
that the selection of a benchmark
for the scheme of a mutual fund
should be mapped with the
investment objective, asset
allocation pattern and investment
strategy of the scheme.
Currently, fund houses have to
evaluate their schemes’ performance
on the basis of a defined
benchmark. BSE Sensex and NSE
Nifty are the top two benchmark
indices in the country.
Further, most of the mutual fund
schemes currently are benchmarked
to the Price Return Index (PRI),
apart from debt schemes, which
only captures capital gains of the
index constituents. However, TRI
also captures dividends of the
stocks that make up the index,
a long with price returns. “TRI takes
into account all interest payments
that are generated from the basket
of constituents that make up the
index in addition to the capital
gains,” says SEBI circular.
DSP Blackrock Mutual fund,
Quantum Mutual Fund and
Edelweiss Mutual Fund are already
disclosing their actively-managed
equity schemes as per the TRI
framework.
By Himali Patel
www.outlookmoney.com February 2018 Outlook Money
21