Aadhaar Virtual ID Deadline Extended For Service Providers: How To Create VID And Other Details

The UIDAI or Unique Identification Authority of India has extended the deadline for banks and service providers to deploy systems for processing the Virtual ID (VID). The Aadhaar card-issuing authority had in January this year announced introduction of a 16-digit identification number, called Virtual ID or VID, as an alternative to Aadhaar number to verify an individual's identity. The UIDAI had asked all agencies that undertake Aadhaar authentication to start accepting VIDs from their users from June 1 this year, but then decided to extend the deadline by one month (till July 1) on request of agencies, which sought more time to switch to the new system.

Here are 10 things to know about Aadhaar authentication via Virtual ID (VID):

1. Through Virtual ID, an Aadhaar holder can choose to take up Aadhaar authentication without having to share the 12-digit Aadhaar number, also known as Unique Identity Number (UID). A Virtual ID can be generated from the UIDAI's website and produced for various authentication purposes, instead of sharing the actual 12-digit biometric ID. (Also read: How To Use Aadhaar Virtual ID Facility To Link Aadhaar Card To Social Welfare Services)

2. In its statement last Saturday, the UIDAI said authentication user agencies (AUAs) have migrated to VID and UID token using the software that supports new VID capability.

3. The UIDAI also classified all authentication agencies registered with it into two heads - global and local. Banks have been categorised as global AUAs (authentication user agency), and telecom companies among local AUAs for the purpose of authentication and KYC (Know Your Customer) entitlement.

4. As per the norms laid down by the UIDAI, global AUAs will be allowed access to complete KYC with Aadhaar number, and the entities classified as local AUAs will have limited access to KYC details of customers.

5. Telecom companies and e-sign companies which have not implemented the new system till July 1 will have to pay 20 paise per transaction, according to the UIDAI. E-sign is an online electronic signature service which can be integrated with service delivery applications to facilitate a user to digitally sign a document. These charges will be reversed if they comply by the end of July, it noted. In case they are able to fully migrate to the new platform by July 31, the entire "authentication transaction charges imposed for the above said period of July 1-31, 2018, shall be waived", the UIDAI noted. The move is aimed at pushing such companies to expedite the migration process to VID.

6. "Also, for all other the AUAs including banks but other than those mentioned above (telecom operators and E-sign service providers), it has been decided that they shall migrate to VID and UID Token...by 31st August 2018," the UIDAI statement said.

7. UIDAI cautioned that in case they fail to migrate fully to the new system by August 31, it will be "free to take actions under the Aadhaar Act including imposition of financial disincentives and termination of license key".

8. "It has been observed that a number of AUAs have already migrated to production environment using APIs 2.5 for VID implementation and most of the remaining AUAs have tested VID and UID Token in pre-production environment APIs 2.5. We are requesting with these agencies to fully migrate to production environment by the stipulated date," news agency Press Trust of India cited UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey as saying.

9. UIDAI also plans to introduce other forms of Aadhaar data verification, he said, adding that the same may be provided to agencies for identity verification in lieu of the current global or local tags.

10. The move, besides strengthening the privacy and security of Aadhaar data, will reduce the collection of Aadhaar numbers by various agencies. As many as 121 crore people have been issued Aadhaar numbers so far.

How to create Virtual ID (VID) through the UIDAI portal - uidai.gov.in

A user can create a Virtual ID through the UIDAI's website. Here's how to do it:

Once on the homepage, find and click on the 'Virtual ID (VID) Generator' link.

On the next page, fill in the Aadhaar number and the security code in the given fields. Proceed by clicking on the 'Send OTP' (One-Time Passcode) button.After this, an OTP is sent to the mobile number registered with the entered Aadhaar number.

Select 'Generate VID', enter this OTP in the given field and click on 'Submit'.

On completion of the process, the VID is sent to the registered mobile number.

(With agency inputs)