Aadhaar App crosses 5 crore downloads as digital services gain wider adoption

New Delhi [India], August 20 (ANI): The Aadhaar App has crossed five crore downloads, with more than 60 lakh people using it to update their mobile numbers and over 15 lakh updating their addresses, indicating growing adoption of digital Aadhaar services among residents, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said on Thursday.
The app has also been used for more than 23 lakh email updates, as residents increasingly access Aadhaar-related services through smartphones without having to visit an Aadhaar centre, according to the ministry.
The Aadhaar App allows Aadhaar number holders to access services including mobile number, address and email updates, biometric lock and unlock facilities and e-Aadhaar downloads. The ministry said the growing use of these services reflects a preference for digital access to Aadhaar-related services.
The app is designed around the principle of "Show, Share and Verify", giving Aadhaar holders greater control over how their information is used while enabling identity verification, the ministry said.
Alongside the growth in app usage, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has onboarded more than 200 entities as Offline Verification Seeking Entities (OVSEs) since the rollout of the facility in January.
The onboarding is aimed at expanding secure, consent-based and paperless identity verification through Aadhaar's offline mechanism, the ministry said.
Using offline verification methods such as QR code-based verification and secure digitally signed documents, these entities can verify identity information without requiring real-time connectivity to UIDAI's central database.
The ministry said the offline mechanism also allows Aadhaar holders to share only the minimum necessary information, supporting greater privacy and user control during verification.
The growing OVSE ecosystem is expected to further expand the use of Aadhaar-based offline verification while simplifying the identity verification process for service providers and residents, the ministry said.
The initiatives are aligned with the government's Digital India vision and its broader objective of improving ease of living through secure, accessible and technology-enabled public services.
The milestones come as the Aadhaar App expands the range of services available to residents digitally, while the growing number of OVSEs is widening the ecosystem for offline identity verification. (ANI)