Kerala is facing a puzzling situation, the total number of Aadhaar registrations in the state has surpassed its actual population. According to data provided by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in response to an RTI query, as of September 30, 2025, Kerala’s population stood at 3,60,63,000, while the number of Aadhaar cards issued was 4,09,68,282, an excess of over 49 lakh. Although similar discrepancies have been noted in several other states, the variation in Kerala is particularly striking.
“This anomaly points to a major data hygiene issue in the Aadhaar system,” said Kochi-based RTI activist Raju Vazhakala. “A key reason behind this mismatch is the absence of an effective mechanism to cancel or deactivate Aadhaar numbers of deceased individuals in a timely manner.”
Raju explained that while the UIDAI has begun integrating its system with death registration databases and launched a reporting portal, a fully automated and mandatory framework is still lacking. This gap, he warned, leaves room for misuse or fraudulent use of Aadhaar numbers belonging to the deceased, making it imperative for policymakers to introduce stronger measures to ensure data accuracy and security.
Interestingly, this is not just a Kerala-specific issue. At the national level too, the total number of Aadhaar cards has exceeded India’s population, over 1.42 billion Aadhaar cards issued against a population of about 1.41 billion. States such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal have also reported similar inconsistencies.
The Unique Identification Authority of India is taking proactive measures to ensure the accuracy of the Aadhaar database and curb identity fraud by deactivating Aadhaar numbers belonging to deceased individuals. In collaboration with the Registrar General of India (RGI), UIDAI has received around 1.55 crore death records from 24 states and Union Territories through the Civil Registration System (CRS). After validation, over 1.17 crore Aadhaar numbers have been successfully deactivated. A similar process is currently being carried out for non-CRS states and UTs, the authority said in a statement.
To further streamline the process, UIDAI introduced a new ‘Reporting of Death of a Family Member’ service on the myAadhaar portal on June 9, 2025. This feature enables family members to report the death of a loved one by using the deceased’s Aadhaar number and Death Registration Number, facilitating verification and deactivation. UIDAI has urged residents to make use of this service after obtaining the official death certificate.
In addition, UIDAI is exploring partnerships with banks to obtain death records and working with state governments to verify the status of centenarians.
