India-first innovations get crucial ID layer from Aadhaar: UIDAI CEO

Up to 161 countries employ digital technologies for their ID systems, highlighting the need for strict privacy and data protection laws.

Aadhaar has apportioned a vital presence-less foundational identification layer on top of which many additional layers and use cases are created for the India-first innovations driven by the India Stack, such as e-KYC, eSign, Digilocker, UPI, Rupay, eRupi, and FASTag, according to a statement made by Saurabh Garg, CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI). Speaking during MeitY's(Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) seven day Digital Week, he claimed that India has generated 133 billion Aadhaar IDs as of today.

These digital IDs in India were created despite the fact that many people throughout the world are unable to access services because they lack an ID, which makes it Impossible for them to engage in social security programmes, claimed Suresh Sethi, CEO Protean eGov Technologies Ltd.

Citing research from the World bank and McKinsey Analysis, Sethi said, every second woman in low-income nations lacks an ID, which restricts her access to basic services and her ability to participate in political and economic life.

Up to 161 countries employ digital technologies for their ID systems, highlighting the need for strict privacy and data protection laws.

“There is near-universal adult Aadhaar saturation, and the overall saturation rate is 93%. The balance population is 10.02 crore. In the year 2021-22, India saw about four crore new enrollments and more than 16 crore Aadhaar updates." stated Garg.

More than 400 million PAN cards have been issued, more than 6.5 billion TDS/TCS deductee records have been saved, more than 50 million pension subscribers have been identified through NPS and APY, more than 90 million Aadhaar enrollments and two billion Aadhaar authentications have taken place, and 3.5 million students have been registered, according to Sethi.

Using digital IDs in six different roles, Sethi described use cases for a national digital identity, showing how people engage with institutions and create shared value. It enables electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) for financial services, secure digital payments, and registration and authentication between customers and business providers of goods and services.