India / 125 crore Indians now have Aadhaar cards: UIDAI

In just about a decade of its implementation in 2010, registrations under the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) Aadhaar project have crossed the 125-crore mark and these many residents of India now have a 12-digit unique identification number.

The achievement comes along with the rapidly increasing usage of Aadhaar cards as the primary identification document by the holders of these cards, according to a government release.

“This is evident from the fact that Aadhaar-based authentication services have been used close to 37,000 crore times since inception. At present, UIDAI receives about 3 crore authentication requests every day," the release said.

Residents are more inclined on keeping their details in Aadhaar updated, the release said.

UIDAI recorded close to 331 crore successful Aadhaar updates--biometric and demographic—until Friday. Currently, UIDAI receives about 3-4 lakh Aadhaar updates requests every day.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had implemented Aadhaar in 2010. The project was created to provide every Indian resident with a unique identification number, which can be used to avail certain benefits offered by the government.

Earlier this month, the income tax department had said it is mandatory to link permanent account number (PAN) with Aadhaar numbers by the end of this year.

"Building a better tomorrow! To reap seamless benefits of income tax services, complete the vital link before 31st December, 2019," the department had said.

The deadline to link the permanent account number (PAN) with Aadhaar was extended till December 31 by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through an order issued in September this year.