Here is why Indian expats in Oman go for Aadhaar ID card

Muscat: Indians in Oman are obtaining government identity cards even though the top court in the country ruled the ID card unnecessary.
India’s ambassador to Oman Indra Mani Pandey, speaking exclusively to our sister radio station T FM yesterday, confirmed once again that Non Resident Indians (NRIs) do not need to register for an Aadhaar card. Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number issued to an Indian.
To get this identity card made, a citizen has to submit his/her personal and biometric details.
Banks, investment services and even mobile phone SIM card providers in India will not do business unless a citizen hands over the number. For NRIs here in Oman, this means, getting the card makes life easier than not having it. Most Indians in Oman have a home address and bank accounts back home, so the process of obtaining an Aadhaar card is simple. They can also download the document online and have it laminated here.
Pandey said: “NRIs are not entitled to have an Aadhaar card, so, whenever any Indian government organisation or public sector organisation asks for an Aadhaar card, I would request our NRIs to inform them, particularly their banks, that they are non-residents and not entitled to have an Aadhaar card.”
Pandey added that if their passports indicated that they stayed out of India during that year for more than 182 days, they are qualified to be NRIs. However, Indians based in Oman said that they decided to get their Aadhaar cards made because in practice it had become necessary. They said that despite the official policy, overseas Indians were being asked for an Aadhaar card to be able to avail of key services.
An Indian who was raised in Muscat said that he couldn’t get a SIM card because he was required to submit an Aadhaar number. He added that the episode made him apply for an Aadhaar card.
“Last June, my family and I went to India. I tried to get a mobile SIM card. We tried different telecom companies, but they all demanded an Aadhaar card,” he said.
“We asked them if we could get a SIM card in someone else’s name, provided we produced the Aadhaar card of that person, but they said that the said person had to be present for that to happen. So, finally, we managed to get a SIM card for me in the name of one of my relatives,” he added.
“This is a lot of trouble to go through for something as simple as a SIM card. So, me and my family members decided to get our Aadhaar cards made,” he stated.
Another expat based in the Sultanate for eight years said that despite him having a proper NRI bank account, he was asked to link his Aadhaar card to it.
“Thankfully, I had my Aadhaar card made last year when I had visited the country. It has become necessary now. I have an NRI account in a nationalised bank. Back in early January, I got a text message saying that I should link my Aadhaar card to my bank account. So, I linked the two,” he said.
He added that he did not have any problems with Aadhaar, stating that it was a good idea.