PAC calls for Aadhaar review, flags high failure rate of biometric verification

PAC Demands Urgent Aadhaar Upgrades as Biometric Failures Plague Millions

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called for an immediate overhaul of India’s Aadhaar system following alarming reports of frequent biometric verification failures. The parliamentary body warned that technical glitches in fingerprint and iris scans are denying citizens access to critical services, from banking to government subsidies, and demanded swift modernization to prevent further disruptions.  

According to the PAC’s findings, nearly one-third of biometric authentications fail on the first attempt, forcing users to rely on less secure OTP-based verification. The problem disproportionately affects vulnerable groups, including the elderly, manual laborers, and rural populations, whose worn-out fingerprints often go unrecognized by outdated scanners. The committee emphasized that Aadhaar’s decade-old technology lags behind global standards, leaving millions at risk of exclusion.  

In response, the PAC proposed upgrading to multi-modal authentication—such as facial, voice, or vein recognition—to reduce reliance on fingerprints. It also recommended setting up rural help desks for on-ground support and conducting regular system audits to improve accuracy. While the UIDAI has acknowledged the concerns and hinted at AI-driven upgrades, activists demand faster action, citing rising complaints of beneficiaries being turned away from essential services.  

With over 1.3 billion Indians dependent on Aadhaar for identity verification, the PAC’s push for reform highlights the urgent need to balance security with accessibility. As debates over privacy and efficiency continue, the government faces mounting pressure to fix the system before more citizens fall through the cracks.