'Unwanted Confusion': Government Denies New Aadhaar Card Design Claims, Says No Change Planned

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Ministry of Information Technology on Sunday junked viral social media claims that the Aadhaar card will be updated with a new look later this year.

A number of social media posts have been claiming that the government is planning to introduce a new Aadhaar card for Indians which will contain the photo of the person along with a QR code. The posts have also been claiming that the government is introducing these changes in order to prevent identity theft as well as data leak.

"There are intermittent news reports and social media posts explaining how Aadhaar's look may change by the end of this year to just a photo and a QR code, alone," the central government said in a press release.

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"This is NOT CORRECT. There is no plan for any such changes," the press release said, adding, "Such news reports and social media posts are creating unwanted confusion in the minds of the people."

"People in general are advised to ignore such reports and social media posts, and refer to official communication from UIDAI through its official social media handles and press releases issued through PIB. Media is also advised not to encourage such information," the press release also said.

The Aadhaar card has the picture of the person along with their name, address, date of birth, father's name, and a QR code which can be used to verify the details.

Aadhaar not proof of date of birth

The UIDAI has said that the Aadhaar card cannot be accepted as a proof of date of birth, and instead is a proof of identity.

The UIDAI said in a post on X that the Aadhaar Act 2016 does not say anything regarding it serving as proof of date of birth:“is silent with regard to its acceptance as proof of date of birth.”

"They clarified that an Aadhaar number can be used for establishing identity of an individual subject to authentication; however, in itself, it is not a proof of date of birth," the post said.

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In March, The Central Information Commission (CIC) has flagged delays in updating Aadhaar details and asked the Unique Identification Authority of India to fix timelines and strengthen its grievance redressal system.

The observations came while disposing of an appeal filed by a woman who had sought correction of date of birth in her Aadhaar card, alleging that her request was not processed in time.

During the hearing, the appellant said that despite submitting the required documents, her request remained pending for a long time, forcing her to approach the Delhi High Court by filing a writ petition in the matter.

The CIC noted that applicants frequently approach it with grievances related to correction of date of birth, gender, spelling errors in names and other demographic details, often due to delays and lack of clarity in procedures.

Observing the trend, the Commission said such matters "primarily relate to service delivery and grievance redressal and ideally should be resolved within the administrative framework of the concerned authority without requiring citizens to resort to filing RTI applications".

With agency inputs

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