UIDAI proposes biometric lock, offline verification in new draft rules

In case of a locked Aadhaar, the UIDAI will allow the resident to authenticate using Virtual ID or other means

The Unique Identification Authority of India, the agency that administers Aadhaar, has proposed to allow people to permanently lock their biometrics, introduce a mechanism for offline Aadhaar number verifications, and using a system called Aadhaar Number Capture Service Token or ANCS Token.  

"The Authority may enable an Aadhaar number holder to permanently lock his biometrics and temporarily unlock it when needed for biometric authentication. All biometric authentication against any such locked biometric records shall fail with a “No” answer with an appropriate response code,"  the UIDAI said in its Draft Aadhaar (Authentication and Offline Verification) Regulations, 2021, which are intended