New Aadhaar forms notified: How to cancel Aadhaar after attaining 18 years of age

 

The Aadhaar enrolment and update rules have been amended by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The UIDAI issued a circular on January 18, 2024 where it notified new forms for Aadhaar enrollment and updates for both residents, non-resident people (NRIs) and foreign nationals. The new regulations have made it simpler to update demographic information in Aadhaar, such as address.

How to cancel Aadhaar on attaining the age of 18

As per the rule, an Aadhaar card holder on attaining the age of 18 can apply for omission, cancellation of Aadhaar number. The form to be submitted is FORM 9 (New form). This form is a application by Aadhaar number holder for omission/cancellation of Aadhaar Number on attaining the Age of 18 Years.

The Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) can now be updated in two ways: through a website or mobile application, or by visiting an enrolling facility, according to the new regulations. The old 2016 regulations only allowed for online address updates. The bearer of an Aadhaar number was needed to visit the enrollment facility in order to update additional data.

Cases requiring omission of Aadhaar Number
According to the Aadhaar Enrolment and Update Regulations 2016, Aadhaar number of an Aadhaar number holder shall be cancelled in the following circumstances:-

Double Aadhaar
If it is established that more than one Aadhaar numbers have been issued to the same person, the Aadhaar number assigned the earliest shall be retained and all subsequent Aadhaar numbers omitted;

Where the Aadhaar number has been generated in violation of the prescribed guidelines:—
(i) “Photo on Photo” case where core biometric information is not available: Where an existing photograph is used for enrolment instead of capturing a new photograph at the enrolment centre, and where core biometric information has not been captured during enrolment, the resident's Aadhaar number shall be cancelled.
(ii) “False Biometric Exception” cases: Where the enrolment has been wrongly carried out as a `biometric exception' case, the Aadhaar number shall be cancelled.
(iii) Where an adult has been enrolled as a child below five years of age to avoid capturing of biometric information, Aadhaar number shall be cancelled.

(iv) Any other case requiring cancellation owing to the enrolment appearing fraudulent to the Authority.
According to the Schedule VI 27(1)(c)], “A resident who is an Aadhaar number holder may, upon attaining the age of eighteen years, make an application for cancellation of his/her Aadhaar number to a Regional Office of Authority in the format prescribed in Schedule VI, so as to reach that Regional Office within a period of six months from the date of attaining the age of eighteen years. Upon receipt of the application, the resident shall be required to visit the Regional Office at a stipulated date and time for establishing his/her identity through Aadhaar authentication or any other means as may be prescribed by the Authority. Upon establishment of the identity of the resident, the Regional Office shall initiate the process of cancellation of the Aadhaar number, which shall be cancelled within a period of three months.”

“Upon cancellation, services that are provided by the Authority to the Aadhaar number holder shall be disabled permanently.”

Cases requiring deactivation of Aadhaar Number

The Aadhaar number of an Aadhaar number holder shall be deactivated in the following circumstances:
(a) “Photo on Photo” and core biometric information is available: Where an existing photograph is used instead of capturing a fresh photograph at the enrolment centre, and where core biometric information of the resident has been captured, the Aadhaar number shall be de-activated, and the resident asked to update his photograph. Upon successful update of his photograph, the Aadhaar number may be re-activated.
(b) “False Partial Biometric Exception cases: Where certain attributes constituting biometric information have not been captured despite the resident being in a position to provide them, the Aadhaar number shall be de-activated.
(c) Where it is found at a later stage that enrolment has been carried out without valid supporting documents, the Aadhaar number shall be deactivated till it is updated by the Aadhaar number holder after furnishing valid supporting documents.
(d) Where the information captured has been flagged as having bad data and requiring update (such as mixed/anomalous biometrics information, abusive/expletive words and unparliamentary language in resident demographics, multiple names in single name using ‘urf’ or ‘Alias’), the Aadhaar number shall be deactivated till it is updated by Aadhaar holder.
(e) (i) Where an Aadhaar number holder has attained the age of 5 or 15 years, the first update in his/her Aadhaar has to be necessarily accompanied by a biometric information update.
(ii) Where an Aadhaar number holder who has attained the age of 5 or 15 years fails to update his/her biometric information within 2 years of attaining such age, his/her Aadhaar number shall be deactivated. The facility of biometric information update shall be available free of cost to the Aadhaar number holder till attaining the age of 7 or 17 years, respectively. Thereafter, the Aadhaar number holder can activate his/her Aadhaar number by updating his/her biometric information. However, the applicable charges for biometric information update as fixed by the Authority from time to time shall be borne by the Aadhaar number holder.
(iii) The Aadhaar number shall not be omitted even if the Aadhaar number holder does not update biometric information, and the Aadhaar number shall remain in deactivated state.]
(f) Any other case requiring deactivation as deemed appropriate by the Authority