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India Stack (Aadhaar + UPI + DigiLocker)

Definition

India Stack is the world's largest digital public infrastructure — a set of open APIs built on Aadhaar identity, UPI payments, and DigiLocker document storage that enables digital identity, payments, and document verification at population scale.

India Stack Layers

graph TD
    A[India Stack] --> B["Layer 1: Identity<br/>Aadhaar (1.4B identities)"]
    A --> C["Layer 2: Payments<br/>UPI (10B+ txns/month)"]
    A --> D["Layer 3: Documents<br/>DigiLocker (200M+ users)"]
    A --> E["Layer 4: Consent<br/>Account Aggregator"]
    A --> F["Layer 5: Data<br/>Open Credit Enablement Network"]

    style B fill:#4051B5,color:#fff
    style C fill:#2E7D32,color:#fff

Aadhaar for eKYC

Feature Details
Coverage 1.4 billion identities (99%+ of adult population)
eKYC methods OTP-based, biometric (fingerprint/iris), offline XML, face authentication
Volume 100M+ eKYC transactions per month
Cost ₹3-20 per verification ($0.04-0.25)
Speed < 5 seconds for OTP-based
Operator UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India)

eKYC Flow via Aadhaar

sequenceDiagram
    participant C as Customer
    participant FI as Financial Institution
    participant ASA as Aadhaar Service Agency
    participant UIDAI as UIDAI

    C->>FI: Provides Aadhaar number + consent
    FI->>ASA: eKYC request
    ASA->>UIDAI: Authentication request
    UIDAI->>C: OTP sent to registered mobile
    C->>FI: Enters OTP
    FI->>ASA: OTP verification
    ASA->>UIDAI: Verify OTP
    UIDAI-->>ASA: Verified — returns name, DOB, address, photo
    ASA-->>FI: eKYC data (digitally signed by UIDAI)
    FI->>FI: Account opened

DigiLocker

Feature Details
Users 200M+ registered
Documents Aadhaar, PAN, DL, vehicle registration, mark sheets, degrees
Issuers 2,500+ organizations
Legal validity Documents from DigiLocker are legally equivalent to originals (IT Act Section 9)

India Stack's Global Influence

Countries studying/replicating the India Stack model: - Philippines (PhilSys modeled on Aadhaar) - Ethiopia (Fayda national ID) - Morocco, Sri Lanka, Nigeria (exploring similar architectures)

Key Takeaways

Summary

  • India Stack is the world's largest digital identity infrastructure — 1.4B identities, 100M+ eKYC/month
  • Aadhaar eKYC is the cheapest ($0.04-0.25) and fastest (< 5 seconds) verification globally
  • DigiLocker provides legally valid digital documents — reducing need for physical document capture
  • The stack is being replicated globally as a model for digital public infrastructure
  • For eKYC in India: Aadhaar-based verification is the dominant method used by banks and fintechs