Aadhaar Prepares For Threefold Jump In Daily Authentications: UIDAI Chief Neelkanth Mishra

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Aadhaar system is handling about 100 million authentications a day and is preparing to scale that capacity to 250-300 million, as its use expands across financial services and other digital platforms, Neelkanth Mishra, chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), said on Wednesday, at the 7th edition of the Global Fintech Festival (GFF).

Mishra, who is also an executive director at the World Bank Group, said more than 600 entities now use Aadhaar, reflecting its growing role as a means of establishing identity and trust remotely at a low cost.

The Aadhaar app is also gaining users rapidly, with downloads approaching 60 million, he said. The app has allowed users to update information such as their mobile numbers and addresses digitally, reducing their dependence on physical Aadhaar service centres.

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Mishra said Aadhaar's role should remain limited to providing a secure identity infrastructure, with businesses and other institutions building services on top of it.

“Aadhaar is only a database,” he said, adding that UIDAI did not want 'any scope creep'. The authority holds identity data for about 1.44 billion people and aims to provide it securely while allowing the broader ecosystem to develop new applications.

The growth of India's digital public infrastructure has also supported other financial services, Mishra said. Unified Payments Interface (UPI ) now processes about 25 billion transactions worth ₹30 trillion each month, while Aadhaar-enabled infrastructure has helped bring more people into digital payments and other services.

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Mishra also pointed to the growing use of digital infrastructure in raising risk capital, saying that equity capital inflows equivalent to 2% of India's gross domestic product (GDP) were unprecedented for an economy at its current per capita income level.

UIDAI is now preparing its technology systems for the next phase of growth. Mishra said the authority is working on post-quantum cryptography, or algorithms designed for security against attacks by quantum computers, and expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI ) for fraud detection. It is also developing a more scalable technology architecture while strengthening its security systems.

The authority is also examining global interoperability as more Indians travel and live overseas. Mishra said the number of Indians living and travelling abroad could rise three to four times over the next 17 years, creating greater demand for digital identity verification outside India.

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UIDAI is also working with startups and fintech companies through research funding and sandbox environments, allowing them to test applications involving identity and biometric technologies before they are deployed more widely.

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