Government Steps Up Aadhaar Safeguards, Deactivates 2.5 Crore Deceased IDs

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated more than 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons as part of a nationwide database clean-up aimed at preventing identity fraud and ensuring accurate delivery of welfare benefits. India’s Aadhaar system currently covers around 134 crore live holders , making it the world’s largest biometric identity platform.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada said Aadhaar numbers are identified for deactivation primarily using death registration data from the Civil Registration System , under the Registrar General of India, along with inputs from State and Union Territory authorities. Additional flags come from family reporting , feedback from departments implementing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes, and UIDAI’s internal de-duplication and validation exercises.

The minister noted that the State or UT listed in an Aadhaar address may differ from the place of death registration, sometimes causing delays. However, UIDAI coordinates across agencies to complete identification and deactivation.

Addressing concerns over errors, the government said a multi-layered verification process is followed and no Aadhaar is deactivated based on a single data source . In rare cases of mistaken deactivation, individuals can seek reactivation through verification at enrolment centres , supported by grievance redressal mechanisms.

UIDAI has also strengthened safeguards against misuse, including biometric lock/unlock , Aadhaar lock features , face authentication with liveness detection , and offline verification tools such as Secure QR Code and paperless e-KYC. Core biometric data is not shared, and requesting entities must store Aadhaar numbers in encrypted Data Vaults . A new Aadhaar mobile app enables secure, consent-based sharing of verified credentials with offline verification entities.