UIDAI's new challenge: How technology will be used for transactions like opening bank accounts, paying wages
17 Apr, 2012, 12.33PM IST, Shelley SinghShelley Singh, ET Bureau
Ashok Pal Singh, the man
directing financial inclusion at UIDAI, draws on corporate terminology
to explain the authority's progress. "Two years back, we were walking
around with PowerPoint presentations to show what UID is all about,"
says Singh, one of the seven UIDAI deputy
director-generals.
"Last year, we started pilots, and now we are gearing for a rollout." From pilots to rollout is still a long distance. Some sense of the distance and the obstacles that lay can be gauged from its first round of eight proof-of-concept pilots, which covered 50,000 individuals across five states, the results for which the UIDAI released in March.
These eight pilots essentially sought to test the ease and accuracy of doing several kinds of transactions using a 12-digit unique identity number, called Aadhaar, and fingerprints in real-time. These included opening bank accounts, delivering LPG subsidy and paying manual workers under NREGS.
The numbers reflect cautious hope. The UIDAI says 80% of the transactions needed fingerprints. Of these, 93.5% were completed in the first attempt and by using just one finger- the ideal. If two fingers were used and up to three attempts were allowed, which indicates iteration, the success rate was 99%.
The figures varied across areas, with a pilot to pay NREGS workers in Jharkhand showing only 60% success in the first try and about 90% in the third.
"These are early days and things will only get better," says Singh. "The idea is to take the success rate to 99.999999%." Guru Malladi of Ernst & Young, which is a consultant to the UIDAI, adds these pilots have two objectives: test the ability to authenticate, and deal with the size and complexity of India's population.
"The first one has been proven, the second will be put to test as Aadhaar scales up," says Malladi. Even as UIDAI internalises its findings and tweaks its processes, it is set to announce its next round of Aadhaar-based pilots. While this round will be bigger-covering 50 districts- the question is: will it also be better?
Fixing Errors
In order to do a transaction, a beneficiary states her Aadhaar number and places a finger on a small fingerprint reader. The device sends the print to an Aadhaar server in Bangalore, via mobile Internet, for real-time authentication.
Once the server confirms that the number and fingerprints belong to the same person-a process the UIDAI wants done in 0.2 seconds-the authentication is completed and the transaction proceeds.
Singh cites multiple factors for the shortfall in the initial pilots: the main reasons being the mobile Internet connection between the fingerprint reader and the central server breaking, the machine operator placing the finger incorrectly on the scanner, a dirty scanner, dirty fingers, and fingerprints not being taken properly during enrolment.
UIDAI can't do anything about GPRS connectivity, a limitation some user ministries cite to reject the UIDAI system (See story below). But UIDAI is looking to become sharper in all other areas. For example, says Singh, it is planning to buy machines with a larger scan area.
It is putting in place alternative authentication mechanisms like demographic details (name, address and date of birth) and a one-time password (currently used for credit card payments on e-commerce sites). Fingerprint experts say though one can't guarantee this technology, it's the way to go.
"Last year, we started pilots, and now we are gearing for a rollout." From pilots to rollout is still a long distance. Some sense of the distance and the obstacles that lay can be gauged from its first round of eight proof-of-concept pilots, which covered 50,000 individuals across five states, the results for which the UIDAI released in March.
These eight pilots essentially sought to test the ease and accuracy of doing several kinds of transactions using a 12-digit unique identity number, called Aadhaar, and fingerprints in real-time. These included opening bank accounts, delivering LPG subsidy and paying manual workers under NREGS.
The numbers reflect cautious hope. The UIDAI says 80% of the transactions needed fingerprints. Of these, 93.5% were completed in the first attempt and by using just one finger- the ideal. If two fingers were used and up to three attempts were allowed, which indicates iteration, the success rate was 99%.
The figures varied across areas, with a pilot to pay NREGS workers in Jharkhand showing only 60% success in the first try and about 90% in the third.
"These are early days and things will only get better," says Singh. "The idea is to take the success rate to 99.999999%." Guru Malladi of Ernst & Young, which is a consultant to the UIDAI, adds these pilots have two objectives: test the ability to authenticate, and deal with the size and complexity of India's population.
"The first one has been proven, the second will be put to test as Aadhaar scales up," says Malladi. Even as UIDAI internalises its findings and tweaks its processes, it is set to announce its next round of Aadhaar-based pilots. While this round will be bigger-covering 50 districts- the question is: will it also be better?
Fixing Errors
In order to do a transaction, a beneficiary states her Aadhaar number and places a finger on a small fingerprint reader. The device sends the print to an Aadhaar server in Bangalore, via mobile Internet, for real-time authentication.
Once the server confirms that the number and fingerprints belong to the same person-a process the UIDAI wants done in 0.2 seconds-the authentication is completed and the transaction proceeds.
Singh cites multiple factors for the shortfall in the initial pilots: the main reasons being the mobile Internet connection between the fingerprint reader and the central server breaking, the machine operator placing the finger incorrectly on the scanner, a dirty scanner, dirty fingers, and fingerprints not being taken properly during enrolment.
UIDAI can't do anything about GPRS connectivity, a limitation some user ministries cite to reject the UIDAI system (See story below). But UIDAI is looking to become sharper in all other areas. For example, says Singh, it is planning to buy machines with a larger scan area.
It is putting in place alternative authentication mechanisms like demographic details (name, address and date of birth) and a one-time password (currently used for credit card payments on e-commerce sites). Fingerprint experts say though one can't guarantee this technology, it's the way to go.
"For a reasonable
quality print and a high quality matcher, accuracy will be close to
100%," says Anil Jain, an authority on biometrics. A professor at the
Michigan State University who holds six patents in fingerprinting and
was a consultant to UIDAI.
While biometrics has been in use for over a decade, what UIDAI is trying to achieve is unique. "It is already (at 200 million) the largest human database in the world," says Malladi, partner, advisory services, infrastructure & government, E&Y.
"There's very little chance a fingerprint will not be matched," says Vivek Sagar, country manager, Ingenico International India, which has supplied biometric scanners to the UIDAI. "Aadhaar is the most hi-tech as it uses live, online authentication. And to make this work, everything has to be in sync-scanners, processors, networks, connectivity."
Scaling Up
It's a system created by about 70 people - 40 from the UIDAI, and the rest from E&Y and companies like Google and Genpact on sabbatical. They have prowess in new-age computing, or are data-management experts drawn from banking, finance, manufacturing and retail, among other sectors.
UIDAI has, so far, done 200 million enrolments, with a failure rate of 0.028%. Its mandate is to expand to 600 million, a target it hopes to complete by early-2014. The National Population Register (NPR), under the home ministry, is also doing enrolments.
Transactions will follow enrolments, and is the greater challenge today. "Technology is not an impediment other than issues of connectivity in rural areas," says Neel Ratan, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers. "But for a project of such a scale to be successful, there has to be a critical mass."
A UIDAI report says the challenge is to handle at least 100 million transactions a day. Singh says the authority is not just looking at government transactions. Insurance regulator Irda, capital market regulator Sebi and the department of telecom are some who have allowed Aadhaar to be used for identity verification. Companies can save money.
For example, telecom companies paid Rs 700 crore in fines in 2010-11 to the government for faulty 'know your customer' verifications. "Execution is the key," says Ratan of PwC.
"On paper, the Indian Railways could have built the Delhi Metro, 40 years back. But for something path-breaking, you need new ideas. That's where Nandan and the start-up UIDAI have scored." They are between 93.5% and 99% in a mission where something near about 100% is par. And, Singh says, going to 100% will be "excruciating".
While biometrics has been in use for over a decade, what UIDAI is trying to achieve is unique. "It is already (at 200 million) the largest human database in the world," says Malladi, partner, advisory services, infrastructure & government, E&Y.
"There's very little chance a fingerprint will not be matched," says Vivek Sagar, country manager, Ingenico International India, which has supplied biometric scanners to the UIDAI. "Aadhaar is the most hi-tech as it uses live, online authentication. And to make this work, everything has to be in sync-scanners, processors, networks, connectivity."
Scaling Up
It's a system created by about 70 people - 40 from the UIDAI, and the rest from E&Y and companies like Google and Genpact on sabbatical. They have prowess in new-age computing, or are data-management experts drawn from banking, finance, manufacturing and retail, among other sectors.
UIDAI has, so far, done 200 million enrolments, with a failure rate of 0.028%. Its mandate is to expand to 600 million, a target it hopes to complete by early-2014. The National Population Register (NPR), under the home ministry, is also doing enrolments.
Transactions will follow enrolments, and is the greater challenge today. "Technology is not an impediment other than issues of connectivity in rural areas," says Neel Ratan, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers. "But for a project of such a scale to be successful, there has to be a critical mass."
A UIDAI report says the challenge is to handle at least 100 million transactions a day. Singh says the authority is not just looking at government transactions. Insurance regulator Irda, capital market regulator Sebi and the department of telecom are some who have allowed Aadhaar to be used for identity verification. Companies can save money.
For example, telecom companies paid Rs 700 crore in fines in 2010-11 to the government for faulty 'know your customer' verifications. "Execution is the key," says Ratan of PwC.
"On paper, the Indian Railways could have built the Delhi Metro, 40 years back. But for something path-breaking, you need new ideas. That's where Nandan and the start-up UIDAI have scored." They are between 93.5% and 99% in a mission where something near about 100% is par. And, Singh says, going to 100% will be "excruciating".
