What is an Aadhaar Verification API?
An Aadhaar Verification API is an interface that lets a business confirm a person’s Aadhaar-linked identity details electronically, rather than by collecting and manually inspecting a physical or scanned Aadhaar card.
How it works
The individual provides consent and an Aadhaar artefact — typically an offline XML or QR code obtained from UIDAI, or an OTP-based authentication where the business is licensed for it. The API validates the artefact’s digital signature against UIDAI’s published certificate, confirms it has not been tampered with, and returns the demographic fields the individual has consented to share.
Because the artefact is digitally signed at source, verification confirms authenticity without the business needing to judge whether a document image looks genuine. Veriqos provides this capability through its Aadhaar Verification API.
What it is not
An Aadhaar Verification API does not give a business access to UIDAI’s database. It validates an artefact the individual has chosen to share. Nor does it, by itself, prove the person presenting the artefact is the person it belongs to — establishing that requires a separate biometric or face match step.
It is also frequently confused with DigiLocker verification. DigiLocker retrieves a broader set of issuer-signed documents from a government repository; Aadhaar verification specifically validates an Aadhaar artefact.
Where it is used
Customer onboarding at banks, NBFCs and insurers, where KYC is a regulatory requirement; worker and driver onboarding on gig and mobility platforms; tenant screening; and any process where an organisation must establish identity before extending credit, access or responsibility.
Regulatory note
Aadhaar usage in India is governed by the Aadhaar Act and UIDAI circulars, and separately by the DPDP Act where personal data is processed. Offline verification methods are available to a broader set of entities than OTP-based authentication, which requires specific licensing.
Related terms: DigiLocker · e-KYC · Video KYC (V-CIP) · Liveness Detection · KYC