Indian Ministry of Electronics & IT Rebuts Moody’s Investors Service, Defends Aadhaar as Trusted Digital ID

New Delhi, September 25, 2023 – In a swift response to recent assertions made by Moody’s Investors Service, the Ministry of Electronics & IT in India has issued a robust rebuttal defending Aadhaar, the world’s most trusted digital identity system.

Moody’s Investors Service had made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar, claiming potential issues without citing concrete evidence. In response, the Indian government highlighted the monumental trust that Aadhaar has garnered over the past decade, with over a billion Indians using it to authenticate themselves more than 100 billion times. The Ministry emphasized that dismissing such overwhelming public trust in an identity system suggests a lack of understanding of users’ interests.

The rebuttal pointed out several critical flaws in Moody’s report, notably the absence of primary or secondary data to substantiate its claims. The investor service failed to engage with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to gather factual information and incorrectly cited the number of Aadhaars issued as 1.2 billion, despite updated figures being prominently available on the UIDAI website.

Moody’s report had also criticized Aadhaar’s use of biometric technologies in India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), suggesting service denials for manual laborers in hot, humid conditions. However, the Ministry clarified that the seeding of Aadhaar in the MGNREGS database does not require biometric authentication. Payments to workers are directly credited to their accounts without biometric authentication. The rebuttal also highlighted alternative biometric submission methods like face and iris authentication, as well as mobile OTP options.

Regarding security and privacy concerns raised by Moody’s, the Indian government referred to disclosures made in response to Parliament questions. Parliament has been informed that no breaches have been reported from the Aadhaar database. Robust privacy protections, state-of-the-art security solutions, federated databases, and data encryption have been implemented, meeting international standards (ISO 27001:2013 for Information Security Management System and ISO 27701:2019 for Privacy Information Management System).

The Ministry reiterated the overwhelming support for Aadhaar, with over a billion Indians vouching for its value. International organizations, including the IMF and World Bank, have also praised Aadhaar’s role. Recently, the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) recognized Aadhaar’s contribution, along with other digital infrastructure, in significantly expanding access to transaction accounts.

Aadhaar continues to be a foundational Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) of the India stack. India’s commitment to building and maintaining a Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR) has been welcomed under the G20 Framework for Systems of Digital Public Infrastructure, signifying the global relevance and importance of Aadhaar.

The Ministry’s response underscores the significance of Aadhaar in India’s digital ecosystem and its broader global impact.