Property registration in Maharashtra will use iris scans and face authentication through the Aadhaar app when fingerprint verification fails, as the state registration department introduces mandatory Aadhaar-based identity checks for 63 categories of documents from October 1.
The new verification requirement will apply to transactions including sale, purchase, mortgage and partition deeds. The department says the system is intended to prevent fraudulent registrations and impersonation by reducing reliance on witnesses whose identities may be falsified.
According to the department, the person registering a document will first undergo fingerprint authentication against Aadhaar records. If the fingerprint cannot be captured or does not match, officials will use an iris scan as an alternative. The department will also provide an Aadhaar app-based option for face authentication in cases where conventional biometric verification cannot be completed.
The iris scanner will read the unique pattern in a person’s eye and match it with biometric information linked to Aadhaar. The Unique Identification Authority of India recognises iris authentication as an alternative biometric method alongside fingerprint and face authentication.
The Aadhaar app supports face authentication as well as services including biometric lock and unlock, authentication history and e-Aadhaar. The registration department plans to connect its verification process with the app, allowing officials to use the facility when a fingerprint device cannot complete authentication.
“ We have currently started with Aadhaar verification from Oct 1 and the remaining options would be made available in the next 10 days. The entire aim is to ensure that it is made compulsory and there is no need of witnesses. The authentication will weed out fake witnesses,” DIG IT Abhay Mohite told the Times of India.
Mohite said registration offices would have biometric and iris scanners, with the system synchronised with the Aadhaar app. The department’s stated objective is to ensure that citizens can complete verification even when fingerprints are difficult to capture because of age or the nature of their work.
The alternatives are particularly relevant to senior citizens, whose fingerprints may be harder to read, and to applicants who could otherwise be required to make another trip to a sub-registrar’s office. A failed biometric scan can otherwise delay the registration of a property transaction even when the applicant’s identity and documents are genuine.
Citizens, however, have asked the department to ensure that the technology does not create a new administrative barrier. One Pune resident said alternative authentication should be available immediately rather than requiring an applicant to return on another day. Another resident said connectivity problems, scanner failures or app-related technical issues should not result in a registration delay or the loss of a working day.
The department has said that the combination of fingerprint, iris and app-based face authentication will allow verification to continue when one method fails. The remaining authentication options are scheduled to be made available within 10 days of the department’s initial Aadhaar verification rollout.
