ESign Aadhaar: A Complete Guide

Digital signatures existed in India for more than two decades. For a prolonged period, they were limited to USB token-based e-signatures, better known as DSC or Digital Signature Certificate Tokens. While these tokens were technologically innovative, they had concerns with their availability, portability, and incompatibility with mobile devices. Esign Aadhaar addresses all the challenges that digital signature certificate tokens had and has now become a government-prescribed method of signing a document digitally. In this article, we give you a comprehensive look at what Aadhaar-based Esign is, how to validate the signature in Aadhaar card and more. 

What is an ESign Aadhaar?

The Aadhaar card is one of the prominent identification systems in the country. It is trusted by millions and includes every registered resident’s demographic and biometric data. Esign Aadhaar is a government-authorized way of digitally signing a document. It is an electronic signature that is unique and is based on a person’s Aadhaar data. The advent of Esign Aadhaar was to alleviate all the problems associated with digital signatures in the country. As an encrypted signature, Esign Aadhaar can be effectively leveraged to sign digital documents like agreements, contracts, and letters.  

It is easy to get confused between electronic and digital signatures. While electronic signatures usually involve inputting the name in any document, a digital signature is cryptographically added to a document in the digital space. 

Key Takeaways

• Esign Aadhaar has the same evidentiary and legal value as a wet signature 
• Aadhaar based esign was introduced in 2015 
• Anyone with an Aadhaar number and a linked phone or email address can sign
• Esign Adhaar can be used on a mobile phone
• Aadhaar based Esign does not need a physical device  

How Esign Aadhaar Works?

As a legally compliant method of electronic signature in the country, Esign Aadhaar can be used by anyone with an Aadhaar number and an email address or phone number linked to the unique Aadhaar number. Here is how Esign Aadhaar functions:

• The signer will get a link to the registered email address or phone number 
• The next step involves the signer assessing the documents and providing consent to Aadhaar Esign online 
• The signer would then be redirected to the service provider page where he/she can enter their Aadhaar number and authenticate the Biometric, OTP, or IRIS
• Once authenticated, the Esign is attached to the document
• The signer can get the signed document via SMS or email

Key Features of Aadhaar Esign

• One of the foremost features of Aadhaar Esign is that it has made all traditional practices obsolete.
• An audit trail is one of the underlying mechanisms that determine the authenticity of the digital signature. It helps in alleviating the scope of any disputes that could arise in the system.
• While forging a signature physically is a successful fraudulent practice, Esign Aadhaar is based on two-factor authentication and is hence immune to fraud.
• The digital nature of the Aadhaar Esign makes it fairly easy to be accessed in any part of the globe.

How to Validate Signature in Aadhaar?

There are multiple ways to validate Aadhaar signature. You can either do it through the mAadhaar mobile application or with the help of Adobe Reader. 

Validating a Signature in Aadhaar Using the Mobile Application

• Download the mAadhaar mobile application 
• Once installed, you will receive an OTP on the number registered with your Aadhaar number 
• You can enter the OTP to download the mAadhaar card 
• Once the mAadhaar is downloaded, you will need to create your profile 
• In the next step, you will need to enter the Aadhaar number and scan the QR code
• As soon as the QR code is scanned, you will see the demographic information on your smartphone

How to Validate Signature in Aadhaar Using Adobe Reader?

• Open the UIDAI resident portal and download your eAadhaar
• Open the file using Adobe Reader and select ‘Validity Unknown’ and ‘Validate Signature.’ 
• As soon as you see the signature validation window, select ‘Signature Properties.’
• The next step will require you to opt for the ‘Show Certificate’ option 
• In the next part of the process, you will need to verify the certification path that is known as NIC sub-CA for NIC 2011. NIC stands for National Informatics Centre. 
• The next step includes marking the certification path that is titled NIC Sub CA and selecting ‘Trust’ and ‘add to trusted identities.’ 
• Select ‘OK’ to all the security questions that appear on the screen
• Next, you will need to select ‘Use this certificate as a trusted root’ and click on ‘OK’ twice to close the windows
• Click on ‘Validate Signature’ to complete the procedure. Through this process you can get your aadhar signature validation done.

Is ESign Aadhaar Reliable?

Aadhaar-based esign is safe, secure, and a constructive solution for businesses, processes, service applications and public services to make the process efficient and reliable. With security additions built into esign Aadhaar, it has become the foremost option for a plethora of business organizations to sign electronic documents. 

How to Verify Signature in Aadhaar?

The Aadhaar signature verification can be done in a variety of ways offering maximum flexibility and device compatibility (mobile device or biometric verification).

The Benefits of Esign Aadhaar

• The registration process has become a breeze with the emergence of Aadhaar digital signature
• Esign Aadhaar eliminates the scope of human error and the need for physical tokens
• The process of enrolling Aadhar signature validation is free of cost
• Service providers get a hold of only a specific part of the user’s data. This ensures maximum privacy and security of the signatory’s personal information 

Conclusion

Aadhaar signature verification is a revolutionary process that puts forward a variety of benefits to users across the country. It eliminates the need for any form of complex ordering. Anyone with a registered phone or email address can Esign with their Aadhaar. Furthermore, Esign Aadhaar can be completed by anyone with a basic knowledge of using a smartphone can Esign with Aadhaar. 

As a method scalable for the huge population of India, Esign Aadhaar has the capability of transforming the way paperwork is executed in the country. It has provided businesses with a patented tool to go paperless. 

FAQs

Also Read: How To Make Aadhaar Card Inquiries? & How to Update Aadhaar in EPFO?