eSign eMandate flow with Aadhaar eSign

Aadhaar eSign is an ad hoc digital signature, created on-the-fly and authorised by the customer via UIDAI's eKYC system

Overview

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained by residents of India, based on their biometric and demographic data. Aadhaar is issued and managed by the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), a government body.

eSign is a digital signature. The eSign system is supervised by the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA), a government body.

Aadhaar eSign is a combination of Aadhaar and eSign. It is a single-use digital signature that is created instantly by the customer and applied to a document or instrument. It's legally binding, just like a physical signature. It does not require a USB device, nor does it require the customer to set anything up. It is completely free for the customer to use.

There are more than one billion Aadhaar numbers issued.

Aadhaar eSign uses the UIDAI's eKYC (electronic 'Know Your Customer') system to authenticate a person, and then uses the CCA eSign system to instantly create a one-off digital signature for that person.

Use in general

For a person to use Aadhaar eSign, they must have an Aadhaar and agree to use it via eSign for the specific purpose mentioned by the entity requesting the digital signature.

Because Aadhaar eSign uses Aadhaar, one needs some way of verifying that they are the owner of that Aadhaar. That is done in one of two ways:

• SMS OTP: One can receive a one-time password via SMS text message on the mobile number that they have updated on their Aadhaar.

• Biometric: One can have their fingerprint scanned on an approved device.

• Iris: One can have their iris scanned on an approved device.

• Facial: One can have their face scanned on an approved device.

Use in NACH

The National Payments Corporation of India offers Aadhaar eSign as a method for customers to authorise NACH Debit eMandates.

Aadhaar eSign uses Virtual IDs from July 2018.

LotusPay is integrated into the government's Aadhaar eSign system, thus enabling customers to authorise eSign eMandates easily and securely.

The customer's bank (also known as the 'destination bank' in the NACH system) validates the eMandate by checking that the Aadhaar owner who eSigned the eMandate is the same person who owns the bank account contained in the eMandate. This is possible if the customer has already updated their bank account with their Aadhaar number - which most customers have done.