India deactivates 20 million Aadhaar IDs of deceased
India's biometric identity authority has disabled more than 2 crore (20 million) Aadhaar numbers belonging to deceased individuals, marking one of the largest cleanup exercises in the national identification program's history. The Unique Identification Authority of India announced the deactivations on Wednesday as part of an ongoing effort to prevent identity fraud and ensure welfare benefits reach only legitimate recipients.
The cleanup drive, which began in mid-2024 and accelerated through 2025, aims to address a longstanding gap in India's digital identity ecosystem. The authority confirmed it has sourced verified death data from multiple government channels, including the Registrar General of India, state and Union Territory administrations, the Public Distribution System, and the National Social Assistance Programme