UIDAI Reveals Benefits of Offline Verification Using New Aadhaar App at Stakeholder Meet

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) recently launched a new Aadhaar app, which enables Indian residents to store their Aadhaar cards. After more than a week of the announcement, on Wednesday, the statutory body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) conducted a webinar with stakeholders on “Offline Verification using the Aadhaar App”. The app will also allow residents of India to share the same with others. They will have the choice to either share all the information present in the government ID or mask some details, sharing only relevant information with others.

UIDAI's Webinar on Offline Verification Using Aadhaar App Had Over 250 Participants

A webinar titled “Offline Verification using the Aadhaar App” conducted by the UIDAI on Wednesday was attended by more than “250 entities and participants”. These participants were provided with an overview of the benefits of offline verification via the Aadhaar app, which allows users to store their Aadhaar cards on their smartphones.

According to the press release, the CEO of UIDAI, Bhuvnesh Kumar, said that offline verification would be beneficial for users and entities, as it will provide a “secure, convenient and privacy-protecting method” for identity verification. It will also reduce the sharing of physical Aadhaar cards and their photocopies, which often leads to “potential fraudulent practices”.

UIDAI officials also highlighted that offline verification via the new Aadhaar app will be useful in various scenarios, like while checking into hotels, entering residential societies, and accessing events, where Indian residents are usually asked to produce a physical copy or photocopy of their Aadhaar card.

As previously mentioned, this comes soon after the UIDAI announced the launch of its new Aadhaar app for Android and iOS users. It is claimed to offer various functionalities to people. The app promises to securely store Aadhaar card information, while also allowing Indian residents to share either a masked version or all the details with others.

Available on Android and iOS, UIDAI's Aadhaar app does not replace the mAadhaar app, which allows people to download a copy of the Aadhaar card and order a physical Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) card to their residence. You can read more about the new Aadhaar app, like its key features, how it is different from the mAadhaar app, how it can be downloaded and used, here.