New Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued a set of guidelines for Offline Verification Seeking Entities (OVSEs) to address several hygiene issues and to further enhance public confidence in using Aadhaar voluntarily for legitimate purposes. Methods have been highlighted. Entities have been advised to verify Aadhaar after the explicit consent of the Aadhaar number holder. These entities need to be courteous to people and assure them about the security and confidentiality of their Aadhaar while performing offline verification. Further, the entities must maintain a record of the explicit consent obtained from the residents for any future audit by the UIDAI or any other statutory agency.
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UIDAI has enabled OVSEs to accept Aadhaar in physical or electronic form as proof of identity instead of through QR code present on all the four forms of Aadhaar (Aadhaar letter, e-Aadhaar, m-Aadhaar and Aadhaar PVC card). asked to verify. , Further, the entities have been urged to ensure that no service is denied to any resident for refusing or being unable to verify offline of Aadhaar, provided the people avail themselves through other viable options. be able to identify. It has been highlighted that OVSE needs to provide viable alternative means of identification to residents other than Aadhaar for service delivery.
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UIDAI has informed OVSE that Verification Entities should not normally collect, use or store Aadhaar number of a resident after offline verification of Aadhaar. After verification, if OVSE finds it necessary to store a copy of Aadhaar for any reason, OVSE must ensure that the Aadhaar number is modified/masked and irreversible.
Any Aadhaar can be verified using the mAadhaar app, or the QR code available on all forms of Aadhaar (Aadhaar letter, e-Aadhaar, Aadhaar PVC card, and m-Aadhaar) using the Aadhaar QR code scanner. Tampering of Aadhaar documents can be detected by offline verification, and tampering is a punishable offense and is liable to punishment under section 35 of the Aadhaar Act.
The verification entities have to inform UIDAI and the resident concerned within 72 hours if they notice any misuse of the information. UIDAI has cautioned OVSEs not to conduct offline verification on behalf of any other entity or individual and to ensure full cooperation to the authority or law enforcement agencies in case of any investigation related to misuse of Aadhaar.