Aadhaar has been seeded into 29 government schemes delivering direct benefit transfers to over 100 crore citizens. But a UIDAI internal audit, portions of which were accessed by NT through an RTI request, shows that 11.4 crore Aadhaar holders have demographic mismatches in their records — discrepancies between the name, date of birth or address on the Aadhaar card and the corresponding record held by the bank, ration card office, agriculture department or health authority. These mismatches silently block benefit delivery without notifying the citizen.
Aadhaar Seeding Failures — Scale & Impact
- 11.4 crore Aadhaar numbers with demographic mismatches (UIDAI audit, 2026)
- Most common error: name transliteration differences (Sanskrit names, initials)
- PM-KISAN: 1.3 crore registered beneficiaries blocked by seeding failure as of March 2026
- PMJAY: 68 lakh cardholders cannot claim due to Aadhaar-hospital record mismatch
- Cost of correction: must visit Aadhaar centre in person — average wait: 3 weeks
- Online correction: available only for name/DoB, not for biometric-linked records
“My name on Aadhaar is 'Mohamad'. My ration card says 'Mohammad'. My bank says 'Mohammed'. The computer sees three different people. I am one person who cannot access any of my rights.”
— Mohammed Hussain, daily wage worker, Sitapur district, UP
11.4Cr
Aadhaar records with errors
1.3Cr
PM-KISAN blocked by seeding
29
Schemes using Aadhaar DBT
3 weeks
Avg wait to correct
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Rajan Mehta
Technology & Digital Policy Reporter
Rajan reports on digital governance, data rights and tech policy from Bangalore. He has tracked India's Digital Stack since 2018.