UIDAI Under Fire: Aadhaar Still Active for the Dead?
An RTI (Right to Information) query has revealed that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated only 1.15 crore Aadhaar numbers since the programme began 14 years ago.
New Delhi: An RTI (Right to Information) query has revealed that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated only 1.15 crore Aadhaar numbers since the programme began 14 years ago. This figure is alarmingly low when compared to India’s official mortality data, raising red flags about the risk of identity misuse and welfare fraud.
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Aadhaar Deactivations Far Below India’s Death Rates
As of June 2025, India has 142.39 crore Aadhaar holders, according to UIDAI. The United Nations Population Fund estimates the country’s population at 146.39 crore, while Civil Registration System (CRS) data shows an average of 83.5 lakh deaths per year between 2007 and 2019.
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Despite this, fewer than 10% of all expected deaths have resulted in Aadhaar deactivation, exposing a serious data mismatch in India’s identity tracking system.
UIDAI Says Deactivation Depends on Death Certificates and Family Input
According to UIDAI officials, the deactivation process is not automated and relies heavily on inputs from state-issued death certificates and updates from family members. This manual process causes delays and underreporting, allowing many Aadhaar numbers of deceased individuals to remain active indefinitely.
“UIDAI does not maintain dedicated data on Aadhaar holders who may have died,” the RTI response stated.
Risks of Identity Misuse and Welfare Scheme Leakages
Experts have raised concerns that active Aadhaar numbers of the deceased can be misused for:
- Claiming government subsidies
- Fake bank accounts
- Fraudulent identity transactions
- Duplicate entries in welfare schemes
This gap not only weakens the Aadhaar ecosystem but also affects India’s public distribution system (PDS), DBT schemes, and other identity-linked benefits.
Experts Urge UIDAI to Link Aadhaar with Civil Death Registries
Policy analysts and digital rights experts are now calling for better integration between Aadhaar and death registries to ensure:
- Automatic Aadhaar deactivation upon official death certification
- Real-time data sharing between UIDAI and Registrar General of India
- Improved transparency and accountability in welfare distribution
“The current system opens up massive opportunities for fraud. A centralised, digitised death reporting system linked to Aadhaar is the need of the hour,” said a senior governance expert.
