The infrastructure of digital verification has got a big boost. The Ministry of Electronics and IT today announced that within just three months of the launch of the new system of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), 100 companies have joined it. These companies have now got the status of Offline Verification Seeking Entities (OVSEs).

Many different sectors adopted offline verification

Those joining this new system include central and state government departments, fintech companies, hotel industry, event management companies, education and examination related institutions, identity and background verification agencies and workforce management companies.

It is believed that this integration will reduce the time taken to provide service. Besides, the expenses related to handling physical documents and manual verification will also reduce.

Privacy will be better through offline methods

These companies will now be able to verify identity even without real-time connectivity to the central database of UIDAI. For this, offline methods of Aadhaar like scanning QR code or secure documents with digital signature will be used.

The ministry said that the joining of these OVSE partners is proof that trust in the privacy-first digital verification system of Aadhaar is increasing. In this system, user control is most important and verification is also done easily.

India's digital public infrastructure will be strengthened

In this initiative, citizens have been kept at the top. It has been ensured that Aadhaar number holders share only that much information as is necessary. This will further improve their privacy.

This simple verification process reduces friction and builds trust through transparent and consent-based interactions.

The ministry further said that this distributed model makes the system strong, scalable and secure. It also aligns with India's vision of building an inclusive and future-ready digital public infrastructure. Its purpose is to give people control over their information, so that they can decide for themselves with whom and how much information they want to share.

Promote 'Ease of Living' for citizens

This initiative also takes forward UIDAI's 'Ease of Living' efforts, which aims to simplify people's interactions with service providers.

Aadhaar holders will now get benefits like faster onboarding, less paperwork and more control over their personal information.

The ministry said that this initiative will speed up onboarding for citizens, reduce paperwork and increase their control over personal information, which will improve the 'ease of living'.

About UIDAI

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority. It was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 12 July 2016 under the provisions of the Aadhaar Act 2016.

The Aadhaar Act 2016 has been amended by the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019 (14 of 2019) with effect from 25 July 2019.