The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is planning to stop hotel and event organisers from taking Aadhaar card photocopies from customers, reported PTI. The news agency cited UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar.
The Indian government agency is working on a new rule that will let businesses verify a person’s Aadhaar details using QR codes or the updated Aadhaar app. This system is expected to give companies easier access to basic Aadhaar data needed for identity verificiation, UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar said.
What did the UIDAI CEO say?
“The new rule has been approved by the authority and will be notified soon. It will mandate registration of offline verification-seeking entities like hotels, event organisers. The objective is to discourage paper-based Aadhaar verification,” Kumar told PTI. With this move, the government also plans to solve several issues which arise from intermediary servers going down.
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The new Aadhaar app
A newer version of the ‘Aadhaar app’ has been launched by the government, combining face ID recognition and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to bring the Aadhaar services to their phones. The main motive of the government behind launching this application was to eliminate the need for people to carry their physical Aadhaar cards around. The mobile application was launched in April 2025, and the union government said that using the Aadhaar card would be as easy as transacting on any UPI app, The Mint reported.
“No need to hand over Aadhaar photocopy at hotel receptions, shops or during travel. The Aadhaar App is secure and shareable only with the user's consent,” said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, told the Mint.
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Why does the union government wish to stop Aadhaar photocopies?
This mandate is being taken by the government to protect the privacy of the information of individuals, and to prevent any form of leak or subsequent misuse of the information. “The ease of verification will enhance offline verification without the use of paper while maintaining privacy of users or any risk of their Aadhaar data getting leaked for misuse,” UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar told PTI.
Adhering to the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, the Aadhaar authentication service will become entirely operational in the next 18 months, PTI reported.
