Aadhaar Card Update: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued easy guidelines for Offline Verification Seeking Entities (OVSEs) to verify Aadhaar card details. The main idea behind the fresh guidelines is to address usage hygiene issues, better safety mechanisms at various user levels, and enhance residents’ trust while using Aadhaar cards.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, UIDAI said: “Entities have been informed to perform verification of Aadhaar after explicit consent of the Aadhaar number holder. These entities need to be courteous to residents and assure them about the security and confidentiality of their Aadhaar while conducting offline verification.”
The Offline Verification Seeking Entities are the organisations that carry out the offline verification of Aadhaar card holders for a lawful purpose. Offline verification of Aadhaar is done to carry out identity verification and KYC processes locally, without connecting to the Central Identities Data Repository of UIDAI.
In its Tuesday notification, UIDAI said that the OVSEs should verify Aadhaar via the QR Code present on all four forms of Aadhaar (Aadhaar letter, e-Aadhaar, m-Aadhaar, and Aadhaar PVC card) instead of accepting Aaadhar card copy in a physical form.
It also added that these offline entities must maintain the log/record of the explicit consent received from residents for any future audit by UIDAI or any other legal agency thereof.
“Tampering of Aadhaar documents can be detected by offline verification, and tampering is a punishable offence and liable for penalties under Section 35 of the Aadhaar Act,” UIDAI said.
It has also been said that the OVSEs should not perform offline verification on behalf of any other entity or person and ensure full cooperation with UIDAI or law enforcement agencies in case of any investigation involving the misuse of the Aadhaar information.
Secure QR Code Reader
As per UIDAI, the QR Code earlier presented on the Aadhaar print letter and e-Aadhaar contained only the demographic information of the Aadhaar number holder. Now, the upgraded Secure QR Code contains demographics and photographs of the Aadhaar number holder. Information in the QR Code is secure and tamper-proof as it is digitally signed by UIDAI.
The new digitally signed secure QR code can be read using UIDAI’s custom application and validated against UIDAI digital signatures in real time.
Therefore, any fraud attempted on Aadhaar can be easily detected by using a QR Code scanner.
Steps to get and use QR Code
Users can present e-Aadhaar/ m-Aadhaar or by visiting the UIDAI website. Verification officers can read secure QR Codes by using a handheld scanner device, an android-based application, or an iOS-based application.
Once the UIDAI’s QR code is installed, the secure QR code of Aadhaar/e-Aadhaar/m-Aadhaar can be scanned using the physical scanner in line with UIDAI specifications.
The application will display the demographic including photograph details of the resident once the QR Code of e-Aadhaar is digitally verified by UIDAI at the backend and the QR Code verified.