Karnataka has extended the deadline for ration-card beneficiaries to complete mandatory e-KYC verification to November 10, giving additional time to residents whose earlier deadline was October 20. The extension covers beneficiaries who completed e-KYC more than a year ago, those who have never completed it and those whose verification was conducted more than five years ago.
The Food Department said the extension was necessary because 11,587,298 beneficiaries who completed e-KYC more than a year ago have been instructed to undergo the process again. A further 382,362 beneficiaries have not completed e-KYC even once, while 5,427,396 beneficiaries whose e-KYC was completed more than five years ago still have to complete the verification.
The department has directed all beneficiaries in these categories to complete the process by November 10. They can verify their details themselves through the Anna Seva mobile application or visit a fair-price shop, where the process can be completed using the department’s AHARA software.
The extension is relevant to both residents within Karnataka and beneficiaries who are temporarily living outside the state for work. The department has made the Anna Seva application available across India so that Karnataka ration-card holders living in other states can complete e-KYC without returning to their registered locations.
Beneficiaries outside Karnataka have been asked to download the application and complete the verification from their current location. Those who already have the application installed have been advised to update it through the Google Play Store, as an updated version is now available.
The e-KYC exercise links access to the state’s ration-card system with identity verification through digital and fair-price-shop channels. For households that depend on subsidised food supplies, completing the process before the deadline is an administrative requirement for continued participation in the system. The department said further action would be taken according to the rules if beneficiaries failed to complete e-KYC within the extended period.
The department’s instructions require beneficiaries to first identify whether they fall into one of the specified groups: those whose e-KYC was completed more than a year ago, those who have never completed it, or those whose verification was completed more than five years ago. They must then use the Anna Seva application or approach their nearest fair-price shop to finish the process by November 10.
