It has been 15 years since the issuance of Aadhaar numbers began for every citizen in the country. During this period, over 142 crore Aadhaar cards were issued, but despite the death of more than 8 crore holders, only 1.83 crore cards have been deactivated. Aadhaar cards of approximately 6 crore deceased individuals are still active. This has increased concerns like bank fraud, fake accounts, and irregularities in the benefits of government schemes. According to Bhuvanesh Kumar, CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the organisation has so far received data of 1.55 crore deceased individuals from the Registrar General of India (RGI). Between November 2024 and September 2025, a list of 38 lakh more deceased individuals was added. Among these, the identity of 1.17 crore has been confirmed, and their Aadhaar cards have been deactivated. The authority estimates that 2 crore cards will be deactivated by December. Four months ago, UIDAI launched a death information portal on its website so that family members can deactivate the deceased’s Aadhaar online. So far, only 3,000 people have registered this information, out of which only 500 cases could be confirmed, and their cards were deactivated. UIDAI CEO says, ‘Death registration is still very casual’ Bhuvnesh Kumar said, Aadhaar was launched in 2010. Since 2016, an estimated 8 crore Aadhaar holders have died. Data from the Civil Registration System is available only for 25 states. Work is underway to collect data from the remaining states. He further stated that when Aadhaar started being issued, annual deaths in the country were around 56 lakh. The figure gradually increased to 85 lakh. Therefore, we are assuming 8 crore deaths from 2016 till now. Death registration is still very casual. 48 lakh records not matched; 80 deceased are alive Investigation of 8.3 lakh Aadhaar holders aged over 100 years Indications of irregularities also from banks and the ration system
The post appeared first on .
