Amazon wants access to Indian customers' Aadhaar for food orders

Amazon Has Big Plans For Grocery in India

Amazon is expanding its grocery offerings in India, as the company anticipates that the market will account for over half of its business in India in the next five years.

“Probably, in the next five years, groceries and consumables would be more than half of our business,” [Amit Agarwal, head of Amazon India] added.

India is the eCommerce giant’s largest active customer base outside of the United States. In fact, Amazon already has over 100 million registered users in India — and the country’s online market is expected to grow to $200 billion in a decade, according to Morgan Stanley.

“We want to get the next hundred million customers shopping with us,” said Agarwal. He added that the company plans to attract new clients with product exchange and staggered payment offerings. Read more

Online retailer Amazon has asked customers to upload their Aadhaar numbers to track lost packages.

Can one be sure online retailers can protect your Aadhaar identity? Amazon believes it has a secure form of storing information.

"Amazon continues to look for the most robust practices towards customer support and this process is only done in limited cases where a detailed check is needed for a missing or wrong delivery. In such cases, customers are requested to upload a scanned copy of their Aadhaar card on their Amazon.in account, which is a secure form of storing information," its spokesperson said.

Read more: If Amazon asks you for your Aadhaar details, here's what you need to say

Amazon Is Asking Indians To Hand Over Their Aadhaar, India’s Controversial Biometric ID, To Track Lost Packages

The move has baffled Amazon’s Indian customers, who are already grappling with being forced to link their Aadhaar numbers to open bank accounts, get life insurance, and much more. Read more