NEW DELHI (TIP): The deadline for making Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of more than 130 schemes, including linking of bank accounts with the 12-digit unique biometric identification number, will be extended till March 31 next year, the Centre told the Supreme Court today.

A notification was likely to be issued on Friday to extend the current deadline of December 31, Attorney General KK Venugopal told a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra. Venugopal, however, clarified that the deadline for cellphone number-Aadhaar linking would remain February 6, 2018, as ordered by the top court in another PIL that dealt with national security issue.