What Is Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC? How To Generate It For Offline Verification?

In an effort to make Aadhaar-related services more mobile and user-friendly, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) offers an Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC service using which residents Aadhaar holders can make offline identification verification. According to UIDAI Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC is a secure and shareable document and can be used by any Aadhaar holder residing in the country. According to UIDAI, this service would enable service providers/Offline Verification Seeking Entity (OVSE) to access Offline Aadhaar Verification without the requirement to have Aadhaar numbers with them.

Benefits of Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC verification

According to a Tweet of UIDAI "Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC document is very helpful in offline verification of identification. If your mobile number is added to Aadhaar, you can obtain your Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC." Any Aadhaar bearer who wants to verify his identity offline merely has to submit some information, such as a 12-digit Aadhaar number or 16-digit Virtual ID. Following successfully inputting the same, the Aadhaar holder must establish a 4-character Share Code, after which a ZIP file containing the resident's Paperless Offline eKYC will be downloaded automatically.

This file will be password-protected and can be opened using the same share code. Name, Address, Photo, Gender, DOB, registered Mobile Number and Email Address in a hashed format, and reference id which comprises last 4 digits of Aadhaar Number followed by timestamp in a digitally signed XML would be included in the Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC. Aadhaar holders can use this service to generate their digitally signed Aadhaar details by visiting the UIDAI portal. UIDAI has clearly noted on its official website that "Whereas, the XML file generated by the Aadhaar number holder using Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC is digitally signed document using UIDAI digital signature. Thus, the service provider can verify the demographic contents of the file and certify it to be authentic when doing the offline verification."

Steps to generate Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC

• Visit https://resident.uidai.gov.in/offline-kyc and under the 'Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC' section, enter your 12 digit Aadhaar number or 16 digit Virtual ID to start the process.
• Now enter the displayed security code in the space provided and click on click on 'Send OTP' or 'Enter TOTP'.
• Upon clicking on 'Send OTP' a one-time password will be received on your registered mobile number or click on "Enter TOTP" to get the OTP as an automated call on your Aadhaar-linked mobile number.
• Now create a 4-character share code and enter the OTP/TOTP received on your registered mobile number.
• To get the Offline KYC file, click "Download" and to open the Zip file containing the digitally signed XML enter the generated 4-character share code.