EC reconsiders EPIC-Aadhaar link after 2015 halt

• Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has called a meeting with the Union Home Secretary, Legislative Secretary, and CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to discuss linking voter ID with Aadhaar.
• The move comes after the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, where the Assembly election is due in 2026, flagged the issuance of same elector photo identity card (EPIC) numbers to voters in different States.
• The EC clarified that duplication occurred due to manual errors before the ERONET digital platform for voter enrolment was introduced.
• The EC assured parties that voters with same EPIC numbers registered in different States could still vote using their domicile documents.
• The EC has promised to resolve the issue in three months.
• The NERPAP exercise was discontinued in August 2015 due to Supreme Court’s ruling that mandatory use of Aadhaar should be for welfare schemes and PAN linking.
• The EC clarified that names of those who do not link their Aadhaar details with their voter IDs will not be struck off the electoral rolls.