For over 54 hours, Aadhaar authentication services were interrupted in 2023, representing a significant outage for the largest identity platform in the world. In a Right to Information response to The Hindu, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) revealed that delays in sending one-time passcodes by SMS, and ‘intermittent’ and ‘minor fluctuations’ in authentication were faced by Aadhaar servers for hours-long periods throughout the year till September, amounting to 54 hours and 33 minutes of disruptions.
Aadhaar authentications are key to how the 12-digit identifier functions: while a ‘card’ is typically issued to Indian residents, authentication to access services only happens when someone puts in their fingerprint or keys in an SMS passcode to access rations or verify their identity to access government services.
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