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Government services and Aadhaar: your rights and how to complain

Plain-language help for ordinary people. General information, not legal advice. Helplines, portals and screen names were checked against official Government and regulator pages on 1 November 2026. Portals change: if a screen looks different, follow the words on the screen and the official guide linked in each step.

What data they hold

  • Aadhaar number, photo, fingerprints and iris (UIDAI).
  • Your records in Government schemes, licences, tax and land offices.
  • Authentication history: every time your Aadhaar was used.

Your rights under current law

  • You can check every Aadhaar authentication and lock your biometrics or your whole Aadhaar number (UIDAI).
  • When a hotel, shop or office asks for Aadhaar, you can give a masked Aadhaar: it hides the first 8 digits and shows only the last 4. Download it as e-Aadhaar from myAadhaar.
  • Complaints about a Government office go on CPGRAMS. You get a registration number. The FAQ says 21 days, and you can appeal within 30 days.
  • Use RTI to ask a public authority for information, including what it holds about you.

Your DPDP rights once in force

Sections 11 to 14 of the DPDP Act (your rights) and the duties of companies in sections 4 to 10 start on 13 May 2027 (G.S.R. 843(E)). Until then, use the sector rules on this page. After that date you can use both.

Government bodies are Data Fiduciaries too, but section 7(b) and (c) let them process data for subsidies, benefits, licences and legal functions without fresh consent, and section 17(2) lets the Government exempt notified agencies. So DPDP rights against Government offices may be narrower. RTI and CPGRAMS remain your main routes.

  • Access: a summary of your data and who it was shared with (section 11).
  • Correction, completion, updating and erasure (section 12).
  • Grievance redressal by the company, before going to the Board (section 13).
  • Nominate someone to act after your death or incapacity (section 14).
  • Withdraw consent, as easily as you gave it (section 6(4)).

Common problems

  • A SIM, loan or account opened with your Aadhaar.
  • Aadhaar authentications you did not do.
  • An office keeps photocopies of your Aadhaar.
  • A Government office will not correct your record.

Evidence to keep

  • Screenshot of your Aadhaar authentication history.
  • The SIM, loan or account details you do not recognise.
  • Your application number and letters to the office.
  • CPGRAMS or RTI registration numbers.

See the full evidence checklist.

How to approach, step by step

Go in this order. Start with the company. Move to the next step only when the time limit has passed or the reply is not good enough. If money was lost or you were threatened, go to 1930 or the police first.

Check and lock your Aadhaar

You can see every time your Aadhaar was used for authentication, and lock your biometrics or your whole Aadhaar number. You need the mobile number registered with Aadhaar.

Keep this ready before you start:

  • Aadhaar number or Virtual ID (VID).
  • The phone with your Aadhaar registered mobile number.
  1. Open myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in, or the official Aadhaar app.
  2. Choose Aadhaar Authentication History. Enter your Aadhaar or VID and the OTP.
  3. Check each entry: the type, date and time, and the name of the agency (AUA) that asked.
  4. Take screenshots of any entry you do not recognise.
  5. To lock biometrics, use the biometric lock in the Aadhaar app or on the UIDAI website. Unlock only when you need to use your fingerprint or face.
  6. To lock your whole Aadhaar number you first need a 16 digit VID. Get one by SMS: send GVID, a space, and the last 4 or 8 digits of your Aadhaar to 1947 (for example GVID 1234).
  7. Call UIDAI on 1947 (voice menu 24x7; staff 7 AM to 11 PM Monday to Saturday, 8 AM to 5 PM Sunday), email [email protected], or use Grievance and Feedback on the UIDAI website.

Checked on 1 November 2026 against: UIDAI: Aadhaar authentication history, UIDAI: Aadhaar Online Services (biometric lock, Aadhaar lock, VID by SMS), UIDAI: grievance channels (1947, email, portal).

Check which SIMs are in your name (Sanchar Saathi)

You can see every mobile connection taken on your identity, and report the ones that are not yours. An individual can hold at most 9 connections in total (6 in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and the North East).

Keep this ready before you start:

  • Your own mobile number for the OTP.
  1. Open tafcop.sancharsaathi.gov.in, or in the Sanchar Saathi app choose Know Mobile Connections In Your Name.
  2. Log in with the OTP sent to your number.
  3. Look at the list of numbers shown.
  4. Against a number that is not yours, choose This is not my number. Against an old number you no longer need, choose Not required.
  5. Click Report.
  6. Take a screenshot of the list and of the request number shown.
  7. What happens next, per Sanchar Saathi: the number is sent for re-verification. Outgoing service is suspended within 30 days, incoming within 45 days, and the connection is cut within 60 days if re-verification fails.
  8. If the SIM was taken with your documents by someone else, also file a police or cybercrime.gov.in complaint. Sanchar Saathi says a police complaint is lodged where connections were taken on forged documents.

Checked on 1 November 2026 against: Sanchar Saathi portal and FAQ (Department of Telecommunications), Know Mobile Connections In Your Name (Sanchar Saathi).

Complain about a Government office on CPGRAMS

CPGRAMS is the Government of India's public grievance portal. It is connected to all central Ministries and Departments and to the States. It does not take RTI matters, court cases or religious matters.

Keep this ready before you start:

  • Your mobile number and email to register.
  • The office or scheme name, your application or reference number, and dates.
  • Copies of your earlier letters, as a PDF.
  1. Open pgportal.gov.in, or the CPGRAMS app, or CPGRAMS inside the UMANG app.
  2. Register first. Only registered users can lodge a grievance.
  3. Log in and choose to lodge a grievance.
  4. Choose the Ministry, Department or State, and the subject.
  5. Write what happened, what you asked for, and what you want now. Attach your papers.
  6. Submit. Save the unique registration number.
  7. Track it with View Status and the registration number.
  8. The CPGRAMS FAQ says the time limit is 21 days. If there is a delay, the office should send an interim reply.
  9. When the grievance is closed, give your rating. If you rate it Poor, an appeal option opens. File the appeal within 30 days.
  10. No portal? You can send the grievance by post on plain paper, or through a Common Service Centre.

Checked on 1 November 2026 against: CPGRAMS: Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System, CPGRAMS FAQ (registration number, 21 days, appeal within 30 days).

Ask a central Government office for your own information under RTI

The Right to Information Act lets you ask a public authority for information, including what it holds about you. RTI Online works only for central Ministries, Departments and other central public authorities. For State offices, use the State's own RTI route.

Keep this ready before you start:

  • The Ministry or Department name.
  • Your question, in plain words.
  • Rs 10 fee (internet banking, card or UPI). Below poverty line applicants pay no fee but must attach the BPL certificate.
  1. Open rtionline.gov.in and click Submit Request.
  2. Read the guidelines. Tick I have read and understood the above guidelines. Click Submit.
  3. Choose the Ministry or Department and fill the Online RTI Request Form. Supporting documents must be PDF and up to 1 MB.
  4. Click Make Payment and pay Rs 10.
  5. Save the unique registration number.
  6. Use View Status to follow it. Any extra fee also shows there.
  7. If you get no reply in 30 days, or a poor reply, click Submit First Appeal. Enter the registration number and email of the first request, choose the ground for appeal, and write up to 3,000 characters. There is no fee for a first appeal.

Checked on 1 November 2026 against: RTI Online (central Ministries and Departments), RTI Online: FAQ and citizen user manual.

Ready-to-use complaint

Copy, fill the brackets, and send it through the company's official channel. Keep a copy.

To: [Officer], [Department]
Subject: Correction of my record / misuse of my Aadhaar, reference [number]

My record shows [wrong detail] / my Aadhaar was used on [date] for [service] which I did not request (authentication history attached). Please correct the record / tell me who used it and stop it, and reply in writing.

[Name], [last 4 digits of Aadhaar], [mobile], [date]

Time limits

  • CPGRAMS: 21 days per its FAQ; appeal within 30 days of closure.
  • RTI: reply in 30 days; first appeal after that, no fee.
  • UIDAI help: 1947.

If this happened to you

Official sources

On this page
  1. What they hold
  2. Current rights
  3. DPDP rights
  4. Common problems
  5. Evidence
  6. Step by step
  7. Template
  8. Time limits
  9. Scenarios
  10. Sources