Aadhaar No Longer Required As Proof Of Date Of Birth For Correction, Updation Purposes: EPFO Update

In a circular dated January 16, 2024, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), said that Aadhaar has been removed from the list of acceptable documents for proof of date of birth (DoB) for correction, and updation purposes.
The circular on "Removal of Aadhaar from the list of acceptable documents as a Date of Birth Proof," states that a letter has been received from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) wherein it has been stated that the use of Aadhaar as a DoB needs to be deleted from the list of acceptable documents.
"Accordingly, the Aadhaar is being removed from the list of acceptable documents for correction in date of birth as mentioned in Table-B of Annexure -1 of the JD SOP under reference," the circular said.

Aadhaar is a unique 12-digit ID issued to a resident after he/she undergoes the enrolment process by submitting his/her demographic and biometric information. Once a resident is assigned an Aadhaar number, it can be used to authenticate the resident through various modes as prescribed under the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the Regulations framed there under.

The removal of Aadhaar as proof of date of birth by EPFO seems to be aligning with the UIDAI's directive and the legal stance on Aadhaar's limitations. EPFO members and entities involved in date-of-birth corrections should be aware of this latest EPFO update.

Documents required to change the date of birth in EPF account:
As per the EPFO circular issued in August 2023, documents required to change Date of Birth (DoB) include:

• Birth Certificate issued by the Registrar of Births and Deaths.
• Marksheet issued by any recognized Government Board or University. School Leaving Certificate (SLC)/ School Transfer Certificate (TC)/ SSC certificate containing Name and Date of Birth
• Certificate based on the service records of the Central/State Government Organizations.
• In the absence of proof of date of birth as above, a Medical Certificate issued by Civil Surgeon after examining the member medically and supported with an affidavit on oath by the member duly authenticated by a Competent Court.
• Passport
• PAN by IT department
• Central/ State Pension Payment Order
• CGHS/ ECHS/ Medi-Claim Card issued by Centre/ State/ UTs Govts./ PSUs having Photo & Date of Birth
• Domicile Certificate issued by the Government.

What did UIDAI say about Aadhaar for DOB proof?
In a circular dated December 22, 2023, the UIDAI said, "It is pertinent to mention that, Aadhaar is a unique 12-digit ID issued to a resident after he/she undergoes the enrolment process by submitting his/her demographic and biometric information. Once a resident is assigned an Aadhaar number, it can be used to authenticate the resident through various modes as prescribed under Aadhaar Act, 2016 and Regulations framed there under. At the time of enrolment/updation, UIDAI records DoB as claimed by the resident, on the basis of the documents submitted by them, as specified under the list of supporting documents for Aadhaar enrolment, provided on the UIDAI website (https://uidai.gov.in/images/commdoc/26 JAN 2023 Aadhaar List of documents English.pdf). Further, it is to be noted that Regulations 10(4) and 19A of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016, mention that verification of the enrolment and update data shall be performed as provided in Schedule III."

"In this regard, attention is drawn towards Office Memorandum dated 20.12.2018 issued by MeitY through UIDAI, wherein it has been stated that "An Aadhaar number can he used for establishing identity of an individual subject to authentication and thereby, per .ce its not a proof of dale of birth" (copy enclosed). This aspect of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 has been reiterated/highlighted/stressed upon by different High Courts in recent judgments. The most recent one is given by the Hon'ble High Court of Bombay, in the case of State of Maharashtra V/s Unique Identification Authority of India And Ors. dated 28.07.2023 (copy enclosed). In view of the above, it is required that the use of Aadhaar, as a proof of DoB needs to be deleted from the list of acceptable documents," said the UIDAI circular.