AVC = UCP = YUP — India’s Unified Digital Identity Moment Has Arrived
How UIDAI’s New Measures Echo a Vision I Published Years Ago
On 21 July 2025, the Economic Times reported several new measures from UIDAI aimed at strengthening Aadhaar verification, secure offline authentication, and protection against misuse.
👉 Economic Times Report – UIDAI’s New Measures (21 July 2025)
As soon as I read the announcement, it immediately reminded me of a framework I had proposed in my earlier blogs:
AVC — Aadhaar Verification Capsule
UCP — Unified Citizen Profile
YUP — Your Unified Profile
SUIIC — Secure Unified Instant Identity Card (2020)
Each of these frameworks pointed toward one simple, powerful idea:
One citizen. One trusted identity backbone. Infinite verifiable services.
🔗 Earlier Blogs
Why This Moment Matters
Indian citizens constantly repeat the same identity-verification tasks:
KYC for banks
Identity proof for SIM cards
Certificates for colleges, exams, and jobs
Documents for government schemes
Address verification for utilities
Proof-of-identity for travel, tenancy, and employment
Every department, every company, every authority keeps a separate version of “your identity.”
UIDAI’s direction now suggests that India finally recognizes the need to unify this.
AVC = UCP = YUP — The Core Idea
Each of your proposals — regardless of name — emphasized the same five pillars:
1. A single digital container linked to Aadhaar
Not a new ID — but a structured, verified, portable profile.
2. Citizen-controlled data sharing
Aligned perfectly with DEPA (Data Empowerment & Protection Architecture).
3. Reusable, one-click verification
No more repeated KYC cycles.
4. Standard schema for all institutions
Government + private + local bodies accessing the same trusted profile.
5. One-time verification → lifelong reuse
Identity verified once, usable everywhere.
UIDAI’s recently announced efforts now provide the momentum to make this real.
Why India Must Move to a Unified Digital Identity Layer
The benefits are enormous:
Eliminates duplicate KYC submissions
Reduces fraud and fake identities
Cuts administrative delays
Simplifies government service delivery
Integrates identity with mobility, finance, jobs, health, education
Empowers citizens with control over their own verified attributes
This is the Aadhaar moment 2.0 — the upgrade India has waited for.
What UIDAI Can Do Next
To build on the momentum, UIDAI could consider:
1. Setting up a Working Group for “Unified Citizen Profile”
Bring together technologists, policy thinkers, and civil-society contributors.
2. Using a lightweight, open, API-driven identity capsule
Similar to your AVC and SUIIC frameworks.
3. Providing a voluntary opt-in digital profile
No coercion — but high convenience.
4. Enabling states, regulators, and private firms to plug into it
A universal identity fabric for India’s digital future.
My Reflection
Every idea has its time.
When I wrote my early blogs on YUP, AVC, UCP, and SUIIC, the ecosystem was not fully ready.
But today — with ONDC, UPI, Account Aggregator, DigiLocker, FASTag, and AI-based governance — India finally has the infrastructure and imagination to build a unified identity layer that can serve 1.4 billion citizens efficiently and securely.
If UIDAI takes this step now, it will define the next decade of India’s digital transformation.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
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