The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) — which manages the government's Aadhaar biometric ID programme — lets Aadhaar-registered users to download a digital copy of their identification card. This online facility is available on the UIDAI website as well as mobile app mAadhaar. The Unique Identification Authority of India is the issuer of the 12-digit personal identification Unique Identity Number, also known as Aadhaar number. (Also Read: How To Order An Aadhaar Card Reprint)
Here is the step-by-step guide to download a digital copy of an Aadhaar card:
The user selects the "download Aadhaar" option under the "Get Aadhaar" section on the the Aadhaar website (uidai.gov.in).
Next, the user selects any of the three options to proceed:
- Aadhaar number (UID)
- Enrolment ID (EID)
- Virtual ID (VID)
At this stage, the user can also select whether a masked copy is desired. On a masked version, the entire UID is not visible.
The user clicks on the "Send OTP" button after filling in the necessary details, and enters the OTP or one-time passcode (received on the Aadhaar-registered mobile) in the given space to proceed.
After this, the user selects the "verify and download" option to proceed.
Upon successful completion of the process, a digital copy of the Aadhaar card is downloaded on the device being used. The downloaded file is in the PDF format, and is protected by a password (the user is required to enter a password to be able to access it).
This password is a combination of the first four letters of the user's name in capital letters, followed by the user's birth year in the YYYY format, according to the UIDAI website.
A similar process can be used to download an Aadhaar card using the mAadhaar app.