Aadhaar Card Services

Availing these services is quite easy. Make sure to follow the steps listed below:

Step 1:

Visit the official website of UIDAI, Get Aadhaar

Step 2:

Choose the tab, My Aadhaar and then click on Aadhaar Services

Step 3:

Choose any preferred service.

UIDAI offers the following ten services for all Aadhaar cardholders.

• Verify an Aadhaar number
• Verify an email/mobile number
• Retrieve lost or forgotten EID/UID
• Virtual (VID) Generator
• Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC (Beta)
• Check Aadhaar / Bank Linking Status
• Lock / Unlock Biometrics
• Aadhaar Authentication History
• Aadhaar Lock and Unlock Service
• Aadhaar Service on SMS

Let’s take a closer look at each of these services – what it is and how it can benefit you.

1. Verify an Aadhaar number

This service verifies the authenticity of an Aadhaar number. You can check if the Aadhaar number submitted to you belongs to the person who submitted it. Most employers use this service to verify the identity of their employees.

2. Verify an email/mobile number

This service allows cardholders to verify their email address and mobile number. You can use this feature to check if the email id/mobile number entered at the time of enrolment has been entered correctly.

3. Retrieve lost or forgotten EID/UID

As the name implies, you can retrieve your Aadhaar number (UID) or enrolment number (EID) if you have lost it or forgotten it.

You have to provide the following details to retrieve your UID/EID:

• Full name
• Mobile number or email address
• Captcha verification code
• OTP

Once you furnish all the correct details, your UID/EID will be displayed on the screen.

4. Virtual (VID) Generator

VID or Virtual ID is a temporary 16-digit code that you can use in place of your Aadhaar number. If you don’t want to share your Aadhaar number with service providers (banks, mobile service providers, gas connections, etc.), you can generate a VID for your Aadhaar number.

The VID is mapped to your Aadhaar number and provides the service provider with the basic KYC details without revealing other data stored in your Aadhaar number.

Note that it’s not possible to backtrace an Aadhaar number using the VID. Hence, it’s highly secure.

5. Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC (Beta)

This is a new service that is currently in Beta version. By using this service, Aadhaar cardholders can generate a paperless e-KYC document that can be used for offline verification of your identification.

Let’s explain the benefit of this service with an example. Let’s say you want to avail of a new mobile connection, and your mobile service provider requires you to submit your Aadhaar number and other KYC documents for verification.

Instead of providing printed copies of the required documents, you can download the paperless eKYC and share it with the service provider. To generate the paperless eKYC, you have to enter your Aadhaar number or VID. It creates a ZIP file that is password protected with a 4-character code and the 4-digit code.

You can then share the ZIP file, 4-digit code, and your registered mobile number with the service provider to complete paperless e-KYC verification.

6. Check Aadhaar / Bank Linking Status

Using this service, you can check the status of your Aadhaar and bank account. When you use this service, UIDAI fetches your bank account linking details from the NPCI server. Note that UIDAI doesn’t store any information fetched from the NCPI server and is not responsible for the correctness of the displayed status.

7. Lock / Unlock Biometrics

This feature allows Aadhaar cardholders to lock/unlock the biometric details stored in their card. The main purpose of this feature is to protect the privacy of biometric data (the iris print and fingerprints). However, note that by locking biometric details, you may be denied certain services.

To lock/unlock biometric details temporarily, you have to provide the 12-digit Aadhaar number, captcha code, and OTP sent to the registered mobile number.

8. Aadhaar Authentication History

Using this service, you can view the last 50 authentication services carried using your Aadhaar number. To avail this service, enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number and the captcha code.

Then, you have to provide inputs for the following fields:

• Authentication type – demographics, biometrics, OTP, demographic & OTP, biometric & OTP or ALL
• Select the date range – start date and end date
• The number of records – note that the maximum number of records that can be displayed is 50
• The OTP sent to your registered mobile number

You can get details of all authentication records of your Aadhaar number like – the organisation that used it, the date and time, type of authentication, and more.

You can also download this data as a pdf file for your records.

9. Aadhaar Lock and Unlock Service

UIDAI allows Aadhaar cardholder to lock/unlock their details temporarily using this service. Note that once you lock your Aadhaar number, it won’t be possible to carry any authentication using it. However, it’s still possible to carry out authentication using the VID of a locked Aadhaar number. To avail of this feature, it’s a must for the cardholder to have generated a VID before availing this service.

10. Aadhaar Service via SMS

UIDAI also allows residents to avail of various services listed above by sending an SMS from their registered mobile number. All SMSes should be sent to the number, “1947” in the specified format.

SMS UIDAI Services

All these services are free of cost and provide additional value to the Aadhaar cardholder. Also, it helps them use their UID, without fear of loss of data privacy. However, note that to avail these online services, you have to register your mobile number with your Aadhaar card. To do so, visit a local Aadhaar enrollment centre.