Delhi residents get three new Aadhar-related services

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), under IT czar Nandan Nilekani, on Friday launched three Aadhaar-related services in Delhi to help citizens authenticate their identity online, and also announced opening of 300 more permanent enrolment centres.

The new services are eKYC (eKnow Your Customer), authentication using Iris, and authentication using one time pin (OTP).

"This is a transformational initiative and I am sure the aam aadmi will start reaping the benefits of the Aadhaar project in the near future," Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, said at the launch function.

The eKYC and other authentication services will help residents avail of benefits of Aadhaar-linked services and give both public and private entities an economical, secure and flexible mode of verifying user identity.

In Aadhaar iris authentication, the resident's iris Image is submitted along with the Aadhar number to UIDAI's Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) for verification. The service can be used by all those who have an Aadhaar number, including the old, blind and those who may have undergone cataract surgery.

The OTP service enables Aadhaar-based authentication of all residents who registered a mobile telephone at the time of enrolment or subsequent updating.

The authority also announced that around 300 permanent enrolment centres, called Aadhar Kendras, would be established. These will be increased to 1,000 by September 2013.

These centres will enable enrolment of residents who have missed out during the camps organised by registrars, UIDAI chairman Nilekani said.