Aadhaar-based face authentication transactions surge to record-breaking 10.6 million in May

According to a press statement, the usage of Aadhaar-based face authentication transactions for service delivery has experienced significant growth. In May, the monthly transactions reached a record-breaking 10.6 million, marking the highest number of transactions since its introduction in October 2021.

The press statement further noted that this is the second consecutive month that registered more than 10 million face authentication transactions. The number of face authentication transactions is on an upward trajectory and the monthly numbers clocked in May is an increase of 38 per cent, compared with such transactions reported in January 2023, indicative of its growing usage.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has developed an in-house AI/ML-based face authentication solution, which is currently being utilized by 47 different entities. These entities include state government departments, ministries in the central government, and certain banks.

The press statement further added that among many usages, it's being used for registering beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana; for authentication of beneficiaries in the PM Kisan scheme and for generating digital life certificates at home by pensioners.

“It's being used for marking staff attendance at several government departments and for opening bank accounts at a few leading banks via their business correspondents”, read the press statement.

The government of Andhra Pradesh has implemented Aadhaar-based face authentication for two schemes. The first one is the Jagananna Vidya Deevena Scheme, which aims to provide fee reimbursement to eligible higher education students. The second scheme is the EBC Nestham scheme, which focuses on delivering welfare benefits to economically backward women. Both of these schemes utilize Aadhaar-based face authentication as part of their processes.

According to the press statement, face authentication offers several advantages such as user-friendly experience, faster authentication, and serves as an additional modality to enhance the success rate of authentication alongside fingerprint and OTP methods. The technology captures live images during the authentication process, ensuring increased security. It is designed to counter video replay attacks and prevent unauthorized usage of static photos by individuals with malicious intent.

Face authentication is also working as a robust alternative and helping senior citizens and all those who have issues with the quality of their fingerprints due to several reasons including manual work or health issues.

The month of May also saw the UIDAI executing 14.86 million Aadhaar updates following request from residents

Aadhaar e-KYC service continues to play a key role in the banking and non-banking financial services sectors by providing transparent & improved customer experience and helping in ease of doing business. More than 254 million e-KYC transactions were carried out in May alone, said the press statement further.

By the end May 2023, the cumulative number of Aadhaar e-KYC transactions has gone past 15.2 billion. Continued adoption of e-KYC is significantly reducing customer acquisition cost of entities like financial institutions, telecom service providers among others, statement further added.