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New Delhi, September 10: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is working towards taking Aadhaar to the international stage, with plans focused on enabling NRIs and overseas citizens of India (OCIs) to benefit from the country’s digital identity infrastructure, UIDAI CEO Saurabh Vijay said.
Speaking at a fireside chat during the Global Fintech Fest 2026, Vijay said UIDAI’s immediate focus is to make Aadhaar a “best-in-class” digital identity infrastructure while exploring its interoperability and potential use beyond India.
UIDAI Exploring International Aadhaar Framework
Vijay said the organisation is working on making Aadhaar “international” and exploring how the identity infrastructure could become interoperable across different environments.
UIDAI is already working on several proof-of-concept initiatives as part of this effort. The proposed expansion would also require appropriate legal and policy frameworks to determine how Aadhaar could be used by eligible Indians living overseas.
“Our legal framework is also going (in that direction) to make Aadhaar international,” Vijay said.
NRIs and OCIs Could Benefit From Proposed Expansion
According to Vijay, UIDAI is examining policies that could potentially make Aadhaar available to overseas citizens of India. He indicated that such initiatives could also support greater investment by making identity and authentication processes easier for eligible communities outside India.
The proposed changes are part of a broader effort to examine how Aadhaar could function across international digital environments rather than remaining limited to its existing domestic applications.
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Aadhaar-Based Digital KYC Already Used in Financial Services
The internationalisation push comes as digital identity and digital KYC systems become increasingly important in financial services.
Aadhaar authentication has been used to support digital KYC and customer onboarding, helping financial service providers simplify identity verification. UIDAI’s focus on interoperability could potentially expand the range of environments in which Aadhaar-based authentication can be used.
UIDAI Looking at Small Merchant Authentication
Another area under consideration is Aadhaar-enabled authentication for small merchants.
Vijay said UIDAI is working on guidelines that could allow small merchants to carry out Aadhaar-enabled authentication as part of KYC processes. The proposed framework would determine how such authentication can be facilitated while operating within the applicable legal and policy requirements.
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NPCI Products Could Also Go International
Vijay also highlighted developments involving the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which launched three products at the Global Fintech Fest 2026.
According to Vijay, some of these products could potentially be taken to international markets. UIDAI and NPCI already work together on authentication related to financial transactions, creating scope for closer integration between digital identity and payment infrastructure.
Interoperability at the Centre of Aadhaar’s Global Push
The proposed international expansion is not simply about making Aadhaar available outside India. UIDAI is also examining interoperability, legal frameworks and policies that would determine how the infrastructure could operate across different digital and geographic environments.
If implemented, the initiatives could expand Aadhaar’s potential role in international digital identity and financial ecosystems, particularly for NRIs and other eligible overseas communities.
What This Means For You: For NRIs and OCIs, greater international interoperability could eventually make identity verification and certain financial processes easier across borders. However, the practical benefits will depend on the final legal framework, eligibility rules and how Aadhaar authentication is integrated with overseas systems.
The420 Insight: UIDAI’s proposed international push signals a shift from Aadhaar as primarily a domestic identity system towards a potentially interoperable digital identity infrastructure. The key challenge will be creating clear legal, technical and privacy safeguards while ensuring that cross-border use does not compromise the security of the identity ecosystem.
About the author — Ananya Aradhya writes on cybercrime, fraud, scams, cybersecurity, digital safety, and emerging threats. Her work also covers major criminal cases, financial frauds, consumer scams, and stories that highlight risks affecting people in the real and digital world.
