Lok Sabha Question No. 613 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Updation of Aadhaar Details
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Imtiaz Jaleel Syed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 613

TO BE ANSWERED ON:  06.12.2023

## UPDATION OF AADHAAR DETAILS

## 613. SHRI SYED IMTIAZ JALEEL:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware of the fact that Aadhaar updating centres in the country and especially in rural areas are charging the exorbitant prices for updating the biometrics, demographic information etc;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has allowed the private entities to update the Aadhaar number of the citizens and if so, the details thereof, State/ UT-wise;

(d)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  ensure  that  the  Aadhaar  details  of  the citizens are not misused by the private entities during the updation process; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a) and (b): UIDAI has placed an obligation on all Aadhaar operators not to overcharge for Aadhaar services  including  update  of  biometric  and  demographic  details.  However,  if  any report on overcharging is received, the same is enquired and if established, a financial penalty of ₹ 50,000 is imposed on the enrolment Registrar concerned and the operator is suspended.

To facilitate reporting of overcharging, following mechanism has been put in place, which any user can use to report overcharging for any violation by Aadhaar operator:

(i) An easily accessible grievance redressal mechanism is in place to enable persons to report any grievance related to enrolment, update or authentication through a call to the toll-free number 1947, email to help@uidai.net.in, chatbot (Aadhaar Mitra), web portal,  seven  major  social  media  channels,  letter  and  walk-in  at  UIDAI's  Regional Offices.

(ii) Every such grievance is logged and a unique reference number is provided to the person reporting her/his grievance to enable tracking till closure of follow-up on the grievance. Grievances  are  entertained  in  English  as well as  12  major  Indian languages.

(iii)  To  ascertain  the  facts  regarding  grievances  related  to  overcharging  and  to proactively detect such delinquent conduct, UIDAI has adopted a Standard Operating Procedure  (SOP) for  conducting  outbound  calling  survey  from  UIDAI's  call  centre through which feedback is gathered from persons who have undergone the process of enrolment or update.

(iv)  As  per  the  SOP,  UIDAI call centre undertakes both periodic, random-sampling based and complaint-based surveys to detect and ascertain facts regarding overcharging by Aadhaar centre operators.

(c):  No sir.  Enrolment and update of information of an Aadhaar number is done through a network of Registrars and enrolment agencies, which are departments of Central Government and  State  Governments,  public  sector  companies,  Scheduled  banks  and  regulated  entities, including  CSC  e-Governance  Services  India  Limited  and  other  special  purpose  vehicles created by the Central Government or State Governments. (d) to (e): Does not arise; however, UIDAI has in place robust arrangements to ensure that the information of an Aadhaar number is not misused during the enrolment and update process, including, inter alia, the following: (i)Enrolment agencies are selected on the basis of rigorous selection criteria. (ii)An  individual  is  enrolled  by  a  UIDAI-certified  operator  using  UIDAI's  software  by  a controlled,  non-repudiable  and  secure  process,  after  selection  on  the  basis  of  a  rigorous examination and testing process. (iii)The operator authenticates every enrolment through her/his own fingerprints and Aadhaar number.  In  the  process,  a  complete  account  is  maintained  as  to  which  operator  enrolled whom,  where  and  when,  so  that  in  case  of  any  default,  accountability  of  the  enrolment operator and enrolment agency may be readily fixed. Software does not permit any storage or retention of data with the enrolling entity. (iv)All enrolment data, including biometrics, are encrypted using a 2,048-bit encryption key at the time of the enrolment and are not accessible to any agency except UIDAI, which alone can access the data through a secure decryption key available with it.

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