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About Aadhaar

About Aadhaar

Aadhaar number is a 12-digit random number issued by the UIDAI (“Authority”) to the residents of India after satisfying the verification process laid down by the Authority. Any individual, irrespective of age and gender, who is a resident of India, may voluntarily enrol to obtain Aadhaar number. Person willing to enrol has to provide minimal demographic and biometric information during the enrolment process which is totally free of cost. An individual needs to enrol for Aadhaar only once and after de-duplication only one Aadhaar shall be generated, as the uniqueness is achieved through the process of demographic and biometric de-duplication.

Aadhaar number is verifiable in an online, cost-effective way. It is unique and robust enough to eliminate duplicates and fake identities and may be used as a basis/primary identifier to roll out several Government welfare schemes and programmes for effective service delivery thereby promoting transparency and good governance. This is the only program of its kind globally, wherein a state-of-the-art digital and online Id is being provided free of cost at such a large scale to people, and has the potential to change the way service delivery functions in the country.

Aadhaar number is devoid of any intelligence and does not profile people based on caste, religion, income, health and geography. The Aadhaar number is a proof of identity, however, it does not confer any right of citizenship or domicile in respect of an Aadhaar number holder.

Aadhaar is a strategic policy tool for social and financial inclusion, public sector delivery reforms, managing fiscal budgets, increase convenience and promote hassle-free people-centric governance. Aadhaar can be used as a permanent Financial Address and facilitates financial inclusion of the underprivileged and weaker sections of the society and is therefore a tool of distributive justice and equality. The Aadhaar identity platform is one of the key pillars of the ‘Digital India’, wherein every resident of the country is provided with a unique identity. The Aadhaar programme has already achieved several milestones and is by far the largest biometrics based identification system in the world.

Aadhaar identity platform with its inherent features of Uniqueness, Authentication, Financial Address and e-KYC, enables the Government of India to directly reach residents of the country in delivery of various subsidies, benefits and services by using the resident’s Aadhaar number only.

Benefits

The process to get an Aadhaar will be circulated by the local media upon which residents need to go to the nearest Enrolment Camp to register for an Aadhaar. The resident primarily needs to carry certain documents which will be specified in the media advertisement. Upon registering for Aadhaar, residents will go through a biometric scanning of ten fingerprints and iris. They will then be photographed and given an enrolment number upon completion. Depending on the enrolment agency, residents will be issued an Aadhaar number within 60 to 90 days.

How to get Aadhaar?

The process to get an Aadhaar will be circulated by the local media upon which residents need to go to the nearest Enrolment Camp to register for an Aadhaar. The resident primarily needs to carry certain documents which will be specified in the media advertisement. Upon registering for Aadhaar, residents will go through a biometric scanning of ten fingerprints and iris. They will then be photographed and given an enrolment number upon completion. Depending on the enrolment agency, residents will be issued an Aadhaar number within 60 to 90 days.

What is Aadhaar?

Aadhaar is a 12-digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on behalf of the Government of India. This number will serve as a proof of identity and address anywhere in India. Any individual, irrespective of age and gender, who is a resident in India and satisfies the verification process laid down by the UIDAI can enrol for Aadhaar. Each individual needs to enroll only once which is free of cost. Each Aadhaar number will be unique to an individual and will remain valid for life.

Why Aadhaar?

Aadhaar-based identification will have two unique features: Universality, which is ensured because Aadhaar will over time be recognised and accepted across the country and across all service providers. Every resident's entitlement to the number. The number will consequently form the basic, universal identity infrastructure over which Registrars and Agencies across the country can build their identity-based applications.

Features of Aadhaar

Uniqueness : This is achieved through the process of demographic and biometric de-duplication. The de-duplication process compares the resident’s demographic and biometric information, collected during the process of enrolment, with the records in the UIDAI database to verify if the resident is already in the database or not. An individual needs to enrol for Aadhaar only once and after de-duplication only one Aadhaar shall be generated. In case, the resident enrols more than once, the subsequent enrolments will be rejected.

Portability : Aadhaar gives nationwide portability as it can be authenticated anywhere online. This is critical as millions of Indians migrate from one state to another or from rural area to urban centres etc.

Random Number : Aadhaar number is a random number devoid of any intelligence. Person willing to enrol has to provide minimal demographic along with biometric information during the enrolment process. The Aadhaar enrolment process does not capture details like caste, religion, income, health, geography, etc.

Aadhaar Usage

  • For Governments, Service Agencies

    The UIDAI issues Aadhaar number to residents only after de-duplicating their demographic and biometric attributes against its entire database. Aadhaar authentication enables elimination of duplicates under various schemes and is expected to generate substantial savings to the government exchequer. It also provides the government with accurate data on beneficiaries, enables direct benefit programs, and allows the government departments/service providers to coordinate and optimize various schemes. Aadhaar will enable implementing agencies to verify beneficiaries and ensure targeted delivery of benefits. All these activities will lead to:

  • Curbing Leakages through Targeted Delivery

    Welfare programs where beneficiaries are required to be confirmed before the service delivery, stand to benefit from UIDAI’s authentication services. This will result in curbing leakages and ensuring that services are delivered to the intended beneficiaries only. Examples include subsidized food and kerosene delivery to Public Distribution System (PDS) beneficiaries, worksite attendance of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) beneficiaries, etc.

  • Improving Efficiency and Efficacy

    With the Aadhaar platform providing accurate and transparent information about the service delivery mechanism, government can improve disbursement systems and utilize scarce development funds more effectively and efficiently including better human resource utilisation involved in the service delivery network.

  • For Residents

    Aadhaar system provides single source online identity verification across the country for the residents. Once residents enrol, they can use the Aadhaar number to authenticate and establish their identity multiple times using electronic means. It eliminates the hassle of repeatedly providing supporting identity documents each time a resident wishes to access services such as opening a bank account, obtaining driving license, etc. By providing a portable proof of identity that can be verified through Aadhaar authentication on-line anytime, anywhere, the Aadhaar system enables mobility to millions of people who migrate from one part of the country to another.

Do you have questions?

  1. It is a one-time temporary password (OTP) generated by an algorithm and valid only for 30 seconds. Because of this time-based nature, it is called TOTP.
  2. TOTP is an 8-digit numeric code.
  3. TOTP is personal to the resident and uniquely generated every 30 seconds for each resident.
  4. With time-based OTP, both the TOTP validation server and the token generation app (like mAadhaar) use synchronized system times to generate OTPs.

TOTPs overcome the shortcomings of traditional SMS-based OTPs. They do not depend on mobile networks for SMS delivery, making them faster and more reliable.

TOTP is generated in mobile applications like mAadhaar. The device time must be synchronized with the Indian Standard Time (IST) zone.

  1. Download the mAadhaar Android mobile application.
  2. Create a new resident profile.
  3. Navigate to the TOTP page; your TOTP will be visible and valid for 30 seconds.

As per the Ministry of Finance notification dated 1st June 2017, individuals must link their bank accounts with Aadhaar. Residents without Aadhaar are advised to enroll as soon as possible.

NRIs should declare their non-resident status to their bank with proof. Only the concerned bank can confirm if the account becomes inoperative.

Yes. As per the Ministry of Finance notification dated 1st June 2017, Aadhaar is required for all transactions of ₹50,000 or above.

Aadhaar is a paperless, online, anytime-anywhere identity verified through UIDAI’s Central Identity Repository. It provides a unique lifetime identity verified with biometric and demographic data.

Under Section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, quoting Aadhaar or the Enrolment ID is mandatory for filing tax returns and applying for PAN (for residents). NRIs, who are not residents as per the Aadhaar Act, are exempt.

Downloaded Aadhaar or e-Aadhaar is digitally signed by UIDAI and legally valid under the IT Act, 2000. It must be treated at par with the printed Aadhaar letter.

For any online update, including mobile number changes, residents must already have an active number registered with UIDAI to receive OTPs. Otherwise, they must visit a UIDAI enrolment centre.

Currently, there is no policy to give up Aadhaar. However, residents can lock or unlock their biometrics using the “Lock/Unlock Biometrics” feature at UIDAI’s official website.

As per the Aadhaar Act, only a resident who has lived in India for 182 days or more in the past 12 months is eligible for Aadhaar.