Notification in respect of Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana scheme of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy under DBT

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-13032026-270903 EXTRAORDINARY PART II-Section 3-Sub-section (ii) PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 1242] NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2026/PHALGUNA 21, 1947 MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 12th March, 2026 S.O. 1299(E). - Whereas the use of Aadhaar number to establish identity enables individuals to receive subsidies, benefits and services in a convenient and seamless manner, obviates the need for multiplicity of documents to establish identity, simplifies processes and promotes transparency and efficiency; And whereas, REC Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Agency) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power and acting as National Programme Implementation Agency for PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) in the Government of India (hereinafter referred to as the Government) is administering PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (hereinafter referred to as the Scheme); And whereas, the Central Financial Assistance (hereinafter referred to as the Benefit) for installation of Rooftop Solar Systems is given to the residential category of electricity consumer (hereinafter referred to as the Beneficiary) under the Scheme as per the instructions and guidelines issued in respect thereof; And whereas, expenditure for the Scheme is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India; And whereas, the Ministry is desirous that the Government, for the purpose of establishing identity of a Beneficiary as a condition for the receipt of the Benefit, requires that such Beneficiary undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or in the case of an individual to whom no Aadhaar number has been assigned, make an application for enrolment; Now, therefore, in pursuance of the provisions of section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (18 of 2016), the Central Government hereby notifies the following, namely:— 1. (1) An individual desirous of availing of the Benefit under the Scheme shall be required to undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number. (2) In case an individual who has not been assigned an Aadhaar number, he shall be required to make an application for enrolment. (3) In accordance with the provisions of regulation 12 of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016, the Agency shall ensure enrolment of a Beneficiary who is yet to be enrolled, or update his Aadhaar details through appropriate measures, including coordination with Registrars and setting up enrolment centers at convenient locations or providing enrolment facilities by becoming a Registrar itself: Provided that till such time an Aadhaar number is assigned to a Beneficiary, he may establish his identity to avail of the Benefit, by presenting the following documents to which he is entitled and which are valid at the time of presentation, or, in case the software provided or authorised by the Agency for such identification supports electronic obtaining of information evidencing the contents of such documents from the database of the authorities dealing with the preparation or maintenance thereof, by giving his consent for so obtaining, namely:— (a) for a Beneficiary aged 18 years or more to whom an Aadhaar number has not been assigned, — (i) the acknowledgement of the Beneficiary having undergone the process of enrolment, provided by the operator at the enrolment centre, containing the Enrolment Identification (EID); and (ii) any one of the following documents, having the photograph of Beneficiary, namely: — (A) Elector's Photo Identity Card issued by the Election Commission of India; (B) Ration card; (C) Caste certificate or domicile certificate, issued by a Gazetted officer who is an Executive Magistrate or a Revenue Officer of the State Government, not below the rank of Tahsildar; (D) Medical or insurance identity card issued by a government entity or public sector enterprise to a retired or serving public servant or his family member; (E) Indian passport; (F) Certificate or statement of marks of Matriculation or 10th class or Higher Secondary or 12th class, issued by a recognised Board; (G) Identity card or other identity document issued to serving or retired public servant by a government entity or a public sector enterprise; (H) Disability certificate issued by a notified medical authority under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017, or the Unique Disability Identification (UDID) card issued by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Government of India; (I) Driving licence issued in India: (J) In respect of a child in need of care and protection or a child in conflict with law, who is housed by child care institution registered with the State Government concerned under the rules made by it under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (2 of 2016), certificate specifying his date of birth issued by the person-in-charge, Superintendent, Child Welfare Officer or Probation Officer of such institution; or (K) In respect of a Beneficiary who has a legal guardian, adoption order or other document to evidence legal guardianship, which is issued by a court of law or competent authority under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 (8 of 1890), the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (2 of 2016), the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (44 of 1999) or the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016) and the applicable rules and regulations made thereunder; or (L) Any other document as the Ministry may specify. (4) An officer designated by the Ministry in this behalf shall check in respect of the documents presented or the information evidencing the contents thereof under sub-paragraph (3), — (a) status of enrolment request by submitting the Enrolment Identification number (EID) on myAadhaar portal (https://myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in/portal) to confirm that the Enrolment Identification number (EID) is valid and that the enrolment request has not been rejected; and (b) other documents, and for this purpose, he may take the assistance of and share the information presented with any government entity or an authority that deals with the preparation or maintenance of the information contained in such documents. 2. In order to enable Beneficiary to avail of the Benefit conveniently, the Ministry shall make all necessary steps to ensure wide publicity through media to make the Beneficiary aware of the requirement of Aadhaar number under the Scheme. 3. Where the authentication of the Aadhaar number of a Beneficiary is done through any of the biometric-based modes of authentication (namely, facial image, fingerprints or iris scan based authentication) fails due to any reason, such as poor quality of biometric information, the following remedial mechanisms shall be adopted, namely:— (a) in case any particular biometric-based mode of authentication is not successful, any other mode of biometric-based authentication or one-time pin (OTP) based authentication shall, wherever feasible and admissible, be offered; (b) in cases where biometric-based or one-time pin (OTP) based modes of authentication are not possible, Benefit under the Scheme may, after establishing the genuineness of the Aadhaar number by doing offline verification of the digital signature certificate of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on the Aadhaar Secure Quick Response (QR) Code or the Aadhaar paperless offline electronic know your customer (e-KYC) document, as the case may be, be given on the basis of any of the following, namely:- (i) An Aadhaar Secure Quick Response (QR) Code containing Aadhaar card, Aadhaar letter (i.e., letter issued to an Aadhaar number holder on generation of his Aadhaar number) or e-Aadhaar (i.e., password-protected electronic copy of Aadhaar letter downloadable from the website of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or accessible using its mAadhaar app), after its genuineness is established through offline verification by scanning the Quick Response (QR) code using the Aadhaar Quick Response (QR) Scanner or mAadhaar app. (ii) Aadhaar paperless offline electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) document (downloadable from the website of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or accessible using its mAadhaar app), after its genuineness is established through offline verification of the digital signature certificate of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on the document through the application developed by the Ministry or Agency concerned for this purpose, in accordance with the details given in this regard on the website of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). 4. Notwithstanding anything contained herein above, — (a) Benefit under the Scheme shall not be denied to a child— (i) in case of failure to establish his identity by undergoing authentication or to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number; or (ii) in case of production of an application for enrolment identity where he has not been assigned an Aadhaar number; and (b) Benefit under the Scheme shall be given to such a child by verifying his identity and establishing his relationship with his parent or legal guardian, as the case may be, in the manner specified in the proviso to sub-paragraph (3) of paragraph 1; and (c) where Benefit is given under clause (b), a record shall be maintained in respect of the same, which shall be reviewed and audited periodically by the Ministry. 5. In order to ensure that a bona fide Beneficiary who is aged 18 years or more is not deprived of the Benefit due to him under the Scheme, the Ministry shall follow the exception handling mechanism specified in the Office Memorandum number D-26011/04/2017-DBT, dated the 19th December, 2017 of the Direct Benefit Transfer Mission, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India (available on https://dbtbharat.gov.in). 6. This notification shall come into force from the date of its publication in the official Gazette. [F. No. 381/1/2025-DBT] J. RAJESH KUMAR, Economic Adviser 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.