Using Aadhaar Using Aadhaar Residents primarily use Aadhaar by providing the card or a photocopy. Only a minority has ever used newer digital Aadhaar features—as is common for digital services in India Most people find it easy to use Aadhaar to access key services; however, a minority face problems that lead to exclusion or denial of service. Most people had only used Aadhaar’s analogue form, i.e., the card (84%) or a photocopy (72%), and almost The majority of welfare recipients reported that it was easy to link their Aadhaar to key welfare services, half had used fingerprint authentication (43%, see Figure 11). Comparatively few people had used newer digital such as PDS, MGNREGS, or social pensions. 38 On average, they made 1.7 trips to do so. features, such as QR codes or masked Aadhaar: 77% had never used a newer digital feature. 36 Our survey did not reveal why a large majority of people have not yet adopted digital features, but awareness and incorrect Similarly, using biometric authentication was straightforward, but not frictionless: 27% of people who relied or missing phone numbers are likely to be important factors: less than half (39%) of all Aadhaar holders had on biometric authentication in their most recent use of Aadhaar were unsuccessful on the first attempt. On linked a correct mobile phone number (required for using most new digital features) to their Aadhaar. average, people needed to make 1.4 authentication attempts (1.2 attempts for SIM cards, 1.4 attempts for rations, 1.6 attempts for social pensions). 39 However, some people faced greater difficulties: 16% reported Figure 11: Use of different forms and features of Aadhaar that their fingerprints did not go through at all. About two-thirds of people whose fingerprint authentication % of respondents who have Aadhaar failed for rations or social pension were not able to authenticate by other means. The overall perception of ease belies the difficulties that some people faced around Aadhaar and access to services. Some people (2.5% of all respondents) experienced exclusion from a key welfare service—they could not access it at all—because • MGNREGS Few (1%) job card holders did not get work the last time they of problems with Aadhaar (see Figure 12).40 One-third of them tried because of Aadhaar-related reasons. Many more (31%) (0.8%) previously had accessed the service. Non-Aadhaar related did not get work for non-Aadhaar related reasons. Some reasons contributed to exclusion from services for several times as MGNREGS workers (6%) who worked did not get wages—0.2% many people (22% experienced exclusion for non-Aadhaar related for reasons they ascribed to Aadhaar and 4.1% for non-Aadhaar reasons; 3.5% experienced exclusion for non-Aadhaar related related reasons; however, many who did not get wages could reasons from a service they had earlier received). not identify the reason.44 Not having Aadhaar was a key driver of exclusion. Among the minority of people who did not have Aadhaar, 15% (an estimated • Social pensions Some (19%) social pension beneficiaries did not receive Low digital adoption is unsurprising: people across India have not yet adopted digital services in general. 37 4 million people) experienced exclusion from at least one service their pension the last time they expected it. Few (0.5%) did We hope these data serve as a baseline for understanding how adoption evolves going forward. due to Aadhaar-related reasons.41 Adults who belonged to not receive pension due to problems with Aadhaar; more marginalised groups—such as homeless and third-gender people— beneficiaries (5.7%) did not receive it due to non-Aadhaar disproportionately faced Aadhaar-related exclusion from welfare related reasons; most, however, could not identify a reason. services. This contributed to a situation wherein homeless and third-gender people were nearly one-third as likely to have access to PDS rations without Aadhaar than with Aadhaar.42 • PDS Biometric authentication failed for 5% of PDS users the last time they tried to get rations. One-third of those who experienced stories behind the data Some people, while not excluded, experienced denial of one or such an authentication failure did not get their rations. more services due to Aadhaar-related reasons. 10% of people (By comparison 22% of all PDS users did not get their rations “I know it can be done online, but I don't know how. I'm not comfortable using the computer, so I prefer to do it in person.” missed out on a service while enrolling, and 14% missed out while the last time they tried.) Prashant, Driver, Karnataka updating. When residents used Aadhaar to access welfare, they encountered some scheme-specific issues and denials:43 Even those who were aware of Aadhaar’s digital features often did not use them because they required digital access and literacy. For instance, official SMSes were often in English. Few knew that in some cases one could update Aadhaar online. Others, even when literate, were more comfortable seeking local, in-person solutions over digital ones, as they did not want to navigate the complexity of an online process, and preferred turning to trusted sources like family members, friends and Panchayat heads. Source: SoA Human Centred Design Research 2019 38. 39. 40. 36. 37. 17 Newer digital features include the mAadhaar app, masked Aadhaar, virtual Aadhaar numbers, and Aadhaar QR code. People with a lower level of education were less likely to have used digital features. For example, in 2017, only 12% of banking users participated in online banking (BCG and Facebook. 2017). 41. Most welfare recipients found linking easy: 64% for PDS, 62% for MGNREGS, and 81% for social pensions. Until the Supreme Court ruling in 2018, private-sector service providers, such as banks and telecommunication providers, used biometric Aadhaar authentication. We asked about biometric authentication attempts for PDS, MGNREGA, social pensions, SIM cards and bank accounts. PDS, MGNREGS, or social pension. We define exclusion as inability to get a ration card, job card, or pension—or cancellation of a ration card, job card or pension—despite being eligible for it, as reported by the respondent. Our study design does not allow us to determine whether or not people who reported exclusion were indeed eligible for the service. Aadhaar linking is now mandatory for PDS; however, at the time our fieldwork ended, it was still possible in some states to get rations without linking Aadhaar. 42. 43. 44. For homeless respondents: among those who hadAadhaar, 40% had a ration card, but among those who did not have Aadhaar, only 10% had a ration card. For third-gender respondents: 32% of those who had Aadhaar, had a ration card; 12% of those who did not have Aadhaar, had a ration card. We define denial of service as one or more instances of not receiving a service that should be delivered (as reported by the respondents). We asked whether respondents received specific services (PDS rations, MGNREGS and social pension) when they last attempted to access/expected to receive it. Non-Aadhaar related reasons for denials include lack of knowledge to access MGNREGS, slow processing of wages, and “siphoned by middlemen” among others. Accurately identifying the reasons for non-payment of MGNREGS wages is extremely difficult, even for experts (Ankita Aggarwal. 2017). 18