UIDAI Reveals Direct Link To Lock Aadhaar Biometrics To Prevent Misuse: Check Steps Here

For all the resident citizens of India, an Aadhaar Card is a 12-digit unique identification number that serves as an identity proof for them issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). An Aadhaar number can be misused by fraudsters to open a fake bank account or conduct fake bank transactions. Regarding the same, the statutory authority urged Aadhaar cardholders to use the lock/unlock feature provided by the UIDAI to keep their cards safe from abuse. To know how to lock and unlock your Aadhaar Card biometrics, follow the ways and steps here.

Steps to lock Aadhaar Card online

By keeping the security factor in mind, UIDAI has recently informed Aadhaar cardholders via its official Twitter account that "Lock your Aadhaar biometrics to prevent any possible misuse by anyone. To lock/unlock your #Aadhaar, use #mAadhaar App or click on the link: https://resident.uidai.gov.in/aadhaar-lockunlock. Please note that your #VID is mandatory for this service." To lock your Aadhaar biometrics online, follow the steps listed below:

• Visit https://resident.uidai.gov.in/aadhaar-lockunlock and under the 'Secure UID Authentication Channel' section, select 'Lock UID' or 'Unlock UID' option.
• Upon selecting 'Lock UID', enter your 12-digit Aadhaar card number and enter your name, PIN code as per Aadhaar details.
• Now enter the CAPTCHA code and click on 'Send OTP'.
• You will now get a one-time password (OTP) on your registered mobile number.
• Enter the received OTP in the required field and your Aadhaar biometrics would be locked successfully upon effective authentication of OTP.

Steps to lock Aadhaar biometrics via mAadhaar app

To lock or unlock your Aadhaar Card through mAadhaar app, follow the steps pointed out below:

• Open the mAadhaar app on your mobile phone and log in to your account.
• Now tap on 'My Aadhaar' section and then tap on the 'Aadhaar Lock' option.
• Now accept the 'Confirmation' message and tap on 'Lock Aadhaar'
• Now enter your Aadhaar number, full name, PIN Code and the security CAPTCHA code.
• Now tap on 'Send OTP' and you will get a one-time password on your registered mobile number.
• Enter the OTP, verify the same and upon successful authentication, your Aadhaar Card would be locked effectively.

Steps to lock your Aadhaar Card via SMS

For locking your Aadhaar Card via SMS, follow the steps below:

Send OTP request as: GETOTPLAST 4 or 8 DIGITs of Aadhaar Number Then send Locking Request as: LOCKUIDLast 4 or 8 DIGIT of Aadhaar Number6 DIGIT OTP and send it to 1947 from your registered mobile number. 

For your successful request, you will receive a confirmation message on your registered mobile number. You won't be able to use your Aadhaar Number for any type of authentication (biometric, demographic, or OTP) once it's locked. Instead of your Aadhaar number, you can use your active Virtual ID for authentication purposes, according to UIDAI.

For unlocking your Aadhaar number: Send OTP request with last 6 or 10 DIGITs of Virtual ID number as: GETOTPLAST 6 or 10 DIGITs Virtual ID and then send Unlocking Request as: UNLOCKUIDLAST 6 or 10 DIGIT Virtual ID 6 DIGIT OTP

Steps to lock your Aadhaar Card biometrics online

For locking Aadhaar Card biometrics, UIDAI in its most recent tweet has informed that "For extra safety, you may lock your biometrics in #Aadhaar. You can unlock it as and when you wish to use it and then you may again lock it. Lock/unlock your biometrics using #mAadhaar App or click on link: https://resident.uidai.gov.in/bio-lock." To lock your Aadhaar Card biometrics first keep your mobile number handy and then follow the steps listed below:

• Visit https://resident.uidai.gov.in/bio-lock and accept the confirmation stating that "I Understand that after biometric lock enable, I will not perform biometric authentication until I unlock Biometrics."
• Now click on 'Lock/Unlock Biometrics' and enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number and the required CAPTCHA code.
• You will now get a one-time password on your registered mobile number.
• Enter the OTP in the required space and click on 'Submit' to lock your Aadhaar biometrics.

Note

For the safety and security of Aadhaar Cardholders, UIDAI has also shared an important note on its official website that "Under the PML Rules Aadhaar is one of the officially valid documents accepted for opening bank account and the bank is required to do other due diligence for banking transaction or KYC. If at all some fraudster tries to open bank account using Aadhaar and bank doesn't carry any due diligence then in such case an Aadhaar holder cannot be held responsible for bank's fault. It is just like if some fraudster opens a bank account by presenting someone else's Voter card/Ration card, it is the bank that would be held responsible not the voter or ration card holder. Till date no Aadhaar holder has suffered any financial loss on account of such misuse."