Aadhaar cards of 6 crore deceased people still active in the country : UIDAI

UIDAI survey uncovers fake accounts and fraudulent schemes

(UIDAI = Unique Identification Authority of India)

New Delhi – It has been 15 years since every citizen in the country began receiving an Aadhaar number. During this period, more than 142 crore Aadhaar cards were issued; however, even though over 8 crore cardholders have died, only 1.83 crore Aadhaar cards have been deactivated so far. An estimated 6 crore deceased individuals still have active Aadhaar numbers. This raises the risk of bank fraud, fake accounts, and misuse of benefits from government schemes.

According to UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, UIDAI has so far received information on 1.55 crore deceased individuals from the Registrar General of India. Between November 2024 and September 2025, an additional 38 lakh names were added to the list. Out of these, the identities of 1.17 crore people have been confirmed, and their Aadhaar cards have been deactivated. “More cards will be deactivated by December,” he estimated.

UIDAI launched an online death-reporting portal on its website four months ago. Families can use it to deactivate the Aadhaar number of a deceased member. So far, only 3,000 people have entered such information. Of these, only 500 cases have been verified and deactivated.

Bhuvnesh Kumar said, “Aadhaar enrollment began in 2010. It is estimated that since 2016, around 8 crore Aadhaar holders have died. The Civil Registration System provides information from only 25 states. Data collection from the remaining states is still ongoing. When Aadhaar issuance began, the country’s annual death rate was 56 lakh. This number has since risen to 85 lakh.”

48 lakh records do not match; 80 dead people found alive

So far, around 48 lakh names have not matched records. Of these, 4–5% mismatches are due to data being recorded in regional languages. During this process, 80 cases were discovered where individuals recorded as deceased were actually found to be alive. These cases are now under investigation.

8.3 lakh Aadhaar holders are over 100 years old

UIDAI will verify the details of 8,30,000 Aadhaar holders claimed to be over 100 years old. The highest numbers are from :

Maharashtra – 74,000

Uttar Pradesh – 67,000

Andhra Pradesh – 64,000

Telangana – 62,000

States have so far verified only 3,086 of these cases where— 629 are alive, 783 are deceased, and 1,674 are missing.

Signs of irregularities in banks and ration distribution too

Out of SBI’s 22 crore Aadhaar-linked accounts, 8 lakh accounts of deceased persons have been closed. Out of PNB’s 14 crore accounts, 4 lakh deaths have been confirmed.

In the Public Distribution System (ration system), out of 80 crore ration cards, 4.05 lakhs belonging to deceased persons were found active. Among 2 crore pensioners, deaths of 22 lakhs have been confirmed. Insurance companies have data on 5 lakh deceased individuals.

Editorial Perspectives

• India must be the only country in the world with such massive discrepancies across all kinds of records ! Accountability must be fixed, and strict action should be taken against the concerned administrative officials.
• This effectively means that when the Aadhaar system was introduced in 2009–10, no proper mechanism was ever designed to deactivate the Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons !