The Railway Ministry, on Tuesday, has issued a statement saying m-Aadhaar can now be used as a valid ID proof by passengers while travelling via trains. This move comes as an effort by the Ministry to make the journey with Indian Railways easier for the public.
According to a report by PTI, the “m-Aadhaar, when shown by the passenger on his/her mobile after entering the password, should be accepted as a proof of identity for undertaking the journey in any reserved class over Indian Railways.”
The m-Aadhaar mobile app was launched just recently by the Unique Identification Authority of India to promote ‘Digital India’. The application allows Aadhaar card holders to download their Aadhaar card and its details on their mobile phone, thus making the process of identity verification and showing identity proof easier.
This interface lets the Aadhaar card holders carry their demographic information such as their name, gender, date of birth, and address, as well as their photograph linked to their respective Aadhaar number on their smartphone.
However, to access this facility, the user has to make sure that their phone number/SIM coincides with the one already linked to their Aadhaar number.
The app is currently available for Android while the iOS users have to wait a few more weeks to access this feature. Interested users can download the m- Aadhaar app on their Android smartphones via Google Play Store.
Soon after the app is opened, it asks you to set up a password of length 8-12 characters. The users can create their profile by entering the Aadhaar number manually or by scanning the QR code found on their Aadhaar card.
The application also comes with a biometric unlocking feature for securing their personal data. Alternatively, it has a ‘TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) generation’ process which can be used in place of SMS-based OTP.
