When an ID becomes the key to a subsidy
On 23 September, Biometric Update published an article by Chris Burt on India’s decision to make Aadhaar biometric authentication a condition for subsidised LPG refills from 1 October. Jaume Dubois, founder and CEO of ID30, contributed a comment. Here is the thinking behind it.
What changes
Registered beneficiaries of the PMUY and PAHAL programmes now authenticate with fingerprint, face or iris to keep their cooking gas subsidy. Authentication is available at distributors, through mobile apps and through home visits. LPG itself stays available; the subsidy is what depends on authentication. Almost 90% of recipients, more than 274 million people, have already completed the step.
A lifecycle
“A unique identification number registration has a lifecycle. At first, it is a factor of inclusion: people can prove who they are, often for the first time. Without precautions, the same number can end up becoming a factor of exclusion, once authentication turns into a condition of access and a failed match costs someone a benefit they are entitled to.”
The state’s responsibility
“Legal identity is a right of every person, and providing it is the responsibility of the state, from birth, including making sure every eligible person can use it.”
We developed this point for ID Day in A shadow needs no paperwork.
Full coverage is a horizon
“Full enrollment is close to unreachable, even with time and resources: some people will always remain outside, for many different reasons. That is why, in every project we lead, we design the fallback paths together with the main path, starting at enrollment: handling of edge cases, alternative authentication, assisted and offline channels.”
For programmes linking ID to benefits
When authentication becomes the condition for a benefit, four practices keep the remaining share in view:
- Know who the remaining share is before the deadline: elderly people, manual workers, people with disabilities, remote households.
- Fund and staff the fallback channels for as long as the condition applies.
- Give a named officer the authority to resolve exceptions on the spot.
- Track exclusion errors as a key indicator, alongside fraud reduction.
Read the full article on Biometric Update: Aadhaar biometrics rule for subsidies effectively makes India’s digital ID mandatory. Image: Biometric Update.
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