Aadhaar numbers of over 2 crore deceased individuals blocked – here’s why

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): According to official information given by the Ministry of Electronics and IT on Wednesday, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated the Aadhaar card numbers of more than 2 crore deceased persons as part of a nationwide clean-up drive to maintain the continued accuracy of the Aadhaar database.

The ministry stated in its statement that an Aadhaar number previously assigned to an individual is not reassigned to another individual. However, in the event of a person's death, it is crucial that the deceased Aadhaar holder's Aadhaar number be deactivated. This is necessary to prevent the deceased person's identity from being used for fraudulent or unauthorized activities.

Additionally, UIDAI launched a new feature earlier this year that allows family members to provide information about deceased Aadhaar card holders. This feature is currently available to families of deceased Aadhaar card holders in 25 states and union territories that use the Civil Registration System. They can use the MyAadhaar portal for this purpose. Integration with the portal is currently underway for the remaining states/union territories.

The Ministry says that after self-certification, the family member of the deceased Aadhaar card holder will have to submit the Aadhaar number, death registration number and demographic details of the deceased person on the portal. After due verification of the information provided by the family member, further action will be taken on the process of deactivation of the Aadhaar number of the deceased person. UIDAI is encouraging Aadhaar card holders to report the death of any Aadhaar card holder member of their family on the MyAadhaar portal. The family members of the deceased Aadhaar card holder can report the death on the portal after obtaining the death certificate.