UIDAI deactivates 2.5 cr Aadhaar IDs of deceased

New Delhi: Over 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons have been deactivated to prevent identity fraud, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada told the Parliament on Wednesday. Aadhaar is the world's largest biometric identity system with approximately 134 crores live Aadhaar holders. “As part of a nationwide clean-up effort to maintain the continued accuracy and integrity of the Aadhaar database, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated more than 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons till date,” said Prasada.

“In case of the death of a person, it is essential that his/her Aadhaar number is deactivated to prevent potential identity fraud, or unauthorized usage of such Aadhaar number for availing welfare benefits,” he added. The State / UT mentioned in the address of an Aadhaar number holder in the Aadhaar database may vary from the State / UT where death was registered.

Further, the Minister also informed of several measures taken to reduce the risk of identity fraud and ensure leak-proof delivery of benefits in the country.

The biometric lock/unlock feature enables an Aadhaar number holder to "lock" his biometrics, preventing any unauthorised authentication attempts. Deployment of face authentication with a ‘liveness detection feature’ can help prevent spoofing and ensure the physical presence of the beneficiary during transactions.