प्रेस विज्ञप्ति / Press release

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India Press Release | 2nd November, 2026 IRDAI organizes Workshop on Aadhaar Authentication, DigiLocker and Dark Patterns A workshop on Aadhaar Authentication, DigiLocker and Dark Patterns for the Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) of all insurers was held on 2nd November 2026 at the IRDAI Head Office, Hyderabad.

The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Ajay Seth, Chairman, IRDAI, and Mr. Saurabh Vijay, CEO, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). In his keynote address, the Chairman encouraged the insurance industry to adopt Aadhaar authentication services, integrate DigiLocker into its operational workflows and ensure transparent and fair digital practices. The CEO, UIDAI, outlined how Aadhaar can strengthen processes across the insurance lifecycle.

Representatives of UIDAI conducted the session on Aadhaar Authentication, which covered face, biometric and OTP-based authentication. Insurers were urged to adopt face authentication, which enables liveness detection and can be accessed anytime, anywhere through a mobile phone. It was highlighted that the use of Aadhaar during customer on- boarding enables a seamless, faster and paperless experience, while improving data accuracy and helping mitigate the risk of fraud. Use cases from customer onboarding to claims settlement were presented, showing how Aadhaar authentication can make service delivery to policyholders secure, seamless and efficient. Further, it was emphasized that Aadhaar authentication should be done exclusively from UIDAI which is the only source of truth.

Representatives of the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), conducted the session on DigiLocker, presenting use cases of DigiLocker and Entity Locker across the insurance value chain and product lines.

The session on Dark Patterns in the Digital Insurance Journey, conducted by Mr. R. K.

Sharma, Executive Director, IRDAI, covered the key provisions of the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, notified by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). Insurers were told to avoid forcing visitors to their website to part with personal details such as mobile number, as a condition for getting access to information or generating a quote. It was stressed that digital insurance journeys should be free of dark patterns and should empower consumers to understand insurance products, make informed decisions and control their personal information and communications. Transparent disclosures, fair choice architecture and purpose-specific consent were identified as key pillars of a fair, responsible and trustworthy digital insurance ecosystem that builds long-term consumer trust and loyalty.