In exercise of the powers conferred by sub sections 1 and 2 of section 54, of the Aadhaar Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services Act

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-09122025-268361 EXTRAORDINARY PART III—Section 4 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 798] NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2025/AGRAHAYANA 18, 1947 UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION AUTHORITY OF INDIA NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 9th December, 2025 F. No. HQ-30011/5/2025-AU-HO.—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 54, of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (18 of 2016), the Unique Identification Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations to further amend the Aadhaar (Authentication and Offline Verification) Regulations, 2021 namely:— 1. Short title and commencement.—(1) These regulations may be called the Aadhaar (Authentication and Offline Verification) Amendment Regulations, 2025. (2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. 2. In the Aadhaar (Authentication and Offline Verification) Regulations, 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the principal regulations), in regulation 2, in sub-regulation (1), — (a) the following clause (ac) shall be inserted, namely:- '(ac) "Aadhaar Application” means any official mobile application or web application developed and managed by the Authority to provide an interface to Aadhaar number holders for services related to Aadhaar, including performing offline verification, and includes 'mAadhaar App', 'Aadhaar App', 'Aadhaar QR Scanner App', 'myAadhaar Portal', and such other applications as may be notified by the Authority from time to time;' (b) the following clause (be) shall be inserted, namely:- '(be) "Aadhaar Verifiable Credential" means a digitally signed document issued by the Authority to the Aadhaar number holder which may contain last 4 digits of Aadhaar number, demographic data, like, name, address, gender, date of birth, and photograph of Aadhaar number holder, and such other information as may be specified by the Authority, which may be shared by Aadhaar number holder in full or part with an OVSE in the manner specified by the Authority, for verifying the demographic information or photograph of the Aadhaar number holder;' (c) clause (la) shall be deleted. (d) the following clause (md) shall be inserted, namely:- '(md) "Offline Face Verification” means a mode of offline verification in which the live facial image of an Aadhaar number holder is captured and is verified against the photograph of the Aadhaar number holder stored within the Aadhaar application of the Aadhaar number holder for the correctness, or lack thereof;' 3. In the principal regulations, for regulation 3A, the following regulation shall be substituted, namely:- "3A. Types of Offline Verification.—(1) There shall be following types of Offline Verification services provided by the Authority, namely- (i) QR Code verification, (ii) Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC verification, (ii)(a) Aadhaar Verifiable Credential verification, (iii) e-Aadhaar verification, (iv) Offline Paper based verification, and (v) Any other type of Offline verification introduced by the Authority from time to time. Offline Verification as above may be carried out by the entity with or without offline face verification as per the specifications given by the Authority from time to time. (2) The Authority shall provide various means to scan QR code and download QR Code or e-Aadhaar or Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC or Aadhaar Verifiable Credential through Aadhaar application or other means.” 4. In the principal regulations, the title of the Chapter III shall be substituted, namely:- “APPOINTMENT OF REQUESTING ENTITIES AND AUTHENTICATION SERVICE AGENCIES AND REGISTRATION OF OFFLINE VERIFICATION SEEKING ENTITY" 5. In the principal regulations, the following clause 13A shall be inserted, namely:- "13A. Registration of OVSE.- (1) An entity desirous of undertaking Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC verification or Aadhaar Verifiable Credential verification through Aadhaar Application shall apply to the Authority for registration, in such form as the Authority may provide upon request made to it by such entity and on such terms and conditions as may be specified by the Authority from time to time: Provided that such entity on being registered as OVSE shall perform offline verification only for lawful purposes. (2) The Authority may require the applicant to furnish further information or clarification which may be considered necessary by the Authority, to consider and dispose of the application. (3) The Authority may verify the information submitted by the applicant before deciding the application. (4) The Authority may, if it is satisfied that the entity is eligible as per the terms and conditions specified by the Authority, may approve the application and register the entity as OVSE. (5) In the event an application for registration as OVSE does not satisfy the terms and conditions specified by the Authority, the Authority may reject the application. (6) The decision of the Authority to reject the application shall be communicated to applicant within fifteen days of such decision, stating therein the grounds on which the application has been rejected. (7) Any applicant, aggrieved by the decision of the Authority, may apply to the Authority within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of such information for reconsideration of the decision. (8) The Authority shall reconsider such application made by the applicant and communicate its decision thereon, as soon as possible. (9) The Authority, may from time to time, determine the fee and charges payable by an OVSE for registration and offline verification transactions." 6. In the principal regulations, in regulation 16B, sub-regulation (2), the words "(XML) or m-Aadhaar" shall be deleted. 7. In the principal regulations, in regulation 16C, sub-regulation (1), the words “m-Aadhaar or” and “(XML)" shall be deleted. 8. In the principal regulations, the following clause 23A shall be inserted, namely :- "23A. Surrender of the access to offline verification facility by OVSE. – (1) An OVSE registered under these regulations, desirous of surrendering the access to the offline verification facility granted by Authority, may make a request for such surrender to the Authority. (2) While disposing such surrender request under these regulations, the Authority may require the OVSE to satisfy the Authority about any matter necessary for smooth discontinuance or termination of services, including - (a) the arrangements made by the OVSE for maintenance and preservation of verification logs and other documents in accordance with these regulations and procedures as may be specified by the Authority for this purpose; (b) the arrangements made by the OVSE for making verification record available to the respective Aadhaar number holder on such request; (c) records of redressal of grievances, if any; and (d) settlement of accounts with the Authority, if any." 9. In the principal regulations, in regulation 24, sub-regulation (1), the words “or e-KYC Service Agency (KSA)" shall be deleted. 10. In the principal regulations, for regulation 25(1A), the following regulation shall be substituted, namely:- "(1A). Where any Offline Verification Seeking Entity, (a) fails to comply with any of the processes, procedures, standards, specifications or directions issued by the Authority, from time to time; is in breach of its obligations under the Act and these regulations; (b) uses the Aadhaar Offline Verification facilities for other than lawful purposes; (c) fails to furnish any information required by the Authority for the purpose of these regulations; or (d) fails to cooperate in any inspection or investigation or enquiry or audit conducted by the Authority, the Authority may, without prejudice to any other action which may be taken under the Act, including such criminal action as it may deem fit, take such steps to impose penalty on the Offline Verification Seeking Entity for contravention of the provisions of the Act, rules and regulations thereunder: Provided that the entity or agency shall be given the opportunity of being heard before any action is taken." 11. In the principal regulations, for regulation 25(2), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:- "(2) Any such action referred to in sub-regulation (1) and (1A) may also be taken against any entity or Sub- AUA or sub- KUA or OVSE." 12. In the principal regulations, for regulation 25(3), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:- "(3) Upon termination of appointment or registration by the Authority, the requesting entity or the ASA or the OVSE shall, forthwith, cease to use the Aadhaar name and logo for any purposes, and in any form, whatsoever, and may be required to satisfy the Authority of necessary aspects of closure, including those enumerated in regulation 23(2) and 23A(2)." CHIRAG PANWAR, Director [ADVT.-III/4/Exty./534/2025-26] Note: The principal regulations were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4, dated the 9th November, 2021, vide Notification F. No. K-11020/240/2021/Auth/UIDAI (No. 2 of 2021), dated the 8 th November 2021, and were subsequently amended vide Notifications- (i) F. No. K-11020/240/2021/Auth/UIDAI (No. 01 of 2022), dated the 4th February, 2022; (ii) F. No. HQ-13011/2/2021-AUTH-II (No. 01 of 2023), dated the 24th February, 2023 (published on the 27th February, 2023); (iii) F. No. HQ-13073/1/2020-AUTH.II(E), dated the 29th September, 2023 (published on the 3rd October, 2023); and (iv) F. No. HQ-13073/1/2020-AUTH.II(E), dated the 31st January, 2024. Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.