The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) suspended 1.2 per cent of Aadhaar operators in 2022 for attempting fraudulent activities. The Authority said it is also constantly adding credibility to the Aadhaar ecosystem through the upgradation of technology, adding new security features and by strengthening the Aadhaar ecosystem.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is estimated to have 99,000-1 lakh operators who enroll individuals as well as provide other Aadhaar services like name correction, address change etc.
“About 1.2 per cent of total operators have been suspended in the last one year, due to attempted fraudulent activities. Necessary penal action is taken in such cases,” UIDAI said in a statement. In a security update of the Aadhaar system, the UIDAI said that it has restricted the number of enrolments per day per machine.
“To discourage mischievous operators from misusing the system, GPS fencing has been embedded in the Enrolment machines. An operator is required to verify the credentials of the Enrolment machine regularly with the UIDAI data centre and only a limited number of enrolments are allowed per day per machine,” the statement said.
The Aadhaar custodian said that it has roped in state governments for quality check of all new adult enrolments.
Meanwhile, the government has extended the last date to link Voter ID with Aadhaar card to March 31, 2024, from the earlier April 1, 2023. Users can link their Aadhaar with Voter ID online or through SMS. However, the government has stated that it is voluntary and not mandatory.
The UIDAI said a number of initiatives for strengthening the Aadhaar System have been taken in the recent past:
Biometrics-based De-Duplication:
a) Biometric Service Providers (BSPs) presently operational use Facial image as additional biometric attribute for de-duplication along with 10 finger prints and two IRIS.
b) The present BSPs have capabilities to detect mixed biometrics of different persons.
c) Identify use of unusual Biometrics from multiple individuals for a single enrolment.
d) Capability to detect attempted enrolment by using wrong fingers, non human fingers, gummy fingers, inverted IRIS images, closing of eyes, etc.
e) A robust liveliness check of fingerprints in authentication transactions is in operation. The new two factor/layer authentication is adding add-on checks to validate the genuineness (liveness) of the fingerprint so as to eliminate chances of any spoofing attempts.
f) Similarly, face authentication, with liveliness check is being widely used, and it has also led to a higher authentication success rate.
Strengthening Aadhaar Enrolment/ Update Ecosystem:
a) To discourage mischievous operators from misusing the system, GPS fencing has been embedded in the Enrolment machines. An operator is required to verify the credentials of the Enrolment machine regularly with the UIDAI data centre and only a limited number of enrolments are allowed per day per machine.
b) With Aadhaar saturation reaching near universal, Adult enrolments is now happening at restricted number of centers. Trusted and verified operators of enrolment Agencies only are allowed to carry out new enrolments.
c) The State governments have been roped in for quality check of all new adult enrolments.
d) An updated and user friendly list of supporting documents required for Aadhaar enrolment and update has been notified.
e) UIDAI regularly carries out inspection to find out deviant behavior among operators. UIDAI does benching and retraining of operators on a regular basis.
f) About 1.2 per cent of total operators have been suspended in last one year, due to attempted fraudulent activities. Necessary penal action is taken in such cases.
g) The terms of engagement with Registrars, have been revised to further delineate the roles and responsibilities of Registrars, Enrolment Agencies and Operators to ensure better compliance.
h) Hundred per cent quality check of documents, submitted for Aadhaar enrolment/update has been implemented, to further enhance the verification of the residents, before the Aadhaar number is issued.
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