New Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has announced the phased rollout of a facial recognition system to verify beneficiaries of employment guarantee schemes and ration distribution programmes. The move aims to eventually extend facial recognition-based authentication to all Aadhaar-linked services.

This development was revealed in response to questions raised by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on the functioning and operations of Aadhaar in the country. The government had previously proposed the use of facial recognition for distributing benefits under the Anganwadi programme, and the scope has now been widened to include ration shops and employment schemes.

UIDAI Chairman Neelkanth Mishra and IT Secretary S Krishnan made the announcement during a PAC meeting. PAC Chairman KC Venugopal expressed concern over complaints that a significant number of Aadhaar holders are being denied government benefits due to biometric verification failures, especially fingerprint mismatches.

Venugopal highlighted the 2018 Supreme Court judgment which stated that Aadhaar is not mandatory for availing benefits, questioning why services are being withheld over biometric mismatches. BJP MP and PAC member Ravi Shankar Prasad also raised the issue, noting several instances where ration was denied because the fingerprints originally collected during Aadhaar enrolment failed to match during verification.

Facial recognition system

Under the new system, the facial image captured during Aadhaar enrolment will be stored in the Aadhaar database. When an Aadhaar holder seeks access to government services or benefits, or presents their Aadhaar as proof of identity, their identity will be verified digitally by matching the live facial image with the one stored in the Aadhaar records.

UIDAI believes this technology will help prevent the misuse of Aadhaar and reduce exclusion due to biometric mismatches. A facial recognition system is already in use at the Delhi Secretariat and at select airports through the DigiYatra app.