The government of India introduced sweeping changes to the Aadhar enrolment and update process. The new changes were brought to tighten the document verification rules and creating separate documentation categories for children, adults, foreign nationals and transgender persons.

The revised regulations, notified Friday by the Unique Identification Authority of India under the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016, took immediate effect.

Under the new rules, children under five years of age must now be enrolled through a head-of-family system linked to a parent or legal guardian with a valid Aadhaar number. Birth certificates will serve as the primary proof of date of birth and relationship.

For adults, authorities have expanded the list of accepted documents for Aadhaar registration and updates. Valid documents include passports, voter identification cards, ration cards, driving licences, bank-related documents, utility bills and property papers.

The government also introduced specific provisions for transgender persons, allowing transgender identity certificates issued under India’s Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 to be accepted as proof of identity, address and date of birth.