Seeding and authentication of Aadhaar on the ESIC portal

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, New Delhi, had issued the circular no. F.No.I-21013/1/2022-ICT, dated 8^th January 2024, regarding provisions for seeding and authentication of Aadhaar of insured persons and their family members on the ESIC portal. AscentHR had circulated a legal update on the same on 11^th January 2024.

The said notification mentioned about the following points:

• Option given to IP (Insured Person) to seed Aadhaar of self and his/her family by logging into IP portal.
• Option given to employers to seed Aadhaar of IP and their family on their behalf.
• Facility provided in “AAA” (Ask an appointment) mobile app, wherein IP can seed the Aadhaar number of self and their family members either through OTP or face authentication.
• Additional option given to an insured person and their family to visit designated Kiosks set up in ESIC hospitals for seeding Aadhaar.

Now, in line with the above notification, ESIC, vide notification dated 13^th June 2024, has explained the below facilities available for Aadhaar seeding to facilitate the seamless process for IPs and their family members:

1. IPs can conveniently seed their Aadhaar and that of their family members by accessing the IP portal. Aadhaar can be seeded through the “Aadhaar seeding for IPs and Dependents” link, by providing the OTP received from UIDAI.
2. Employers have been empowered to generate new insurance numbers using employees’ Aadhaar through OTP or bio-metrics verification. As mentioned in the previous circular, employers can seed Aadhaar numbers of existing IPs and their family members on their behalf.
3. Branch offices, DCBOs (Dispensary Cum Branch Office), Dispensaries, and hospitals are designated facilities where IPs can seed the Aadhaar numbers of themselves and their family members.
4. AAA+ mobile app offers a convenient facility for IPs to seed their Aadhaar numbers and those of their family members either through OTP or through face authentication. Inclusion of face authentication aims to minimise dependency on OTP and bio-metric based Aadhaar verification. 

Given the importance of Aadhaar as a KYC, it is hereby recommended to communicate to your employees to follow the above procedure and complete the linking of Aadhaar. This would ensure appropriate and faster benefits, either cash or medical, as applicable. Major benefits under ESIC include medical, sickness, maternity, disablement, dependant, unemployment allowance, old age medical care, vocational training, physical rehabilitation, confinement expenses, and funeral expenses.