ABDM – Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission – FAQs – Know About ABDM

The Section 7 of the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019 clearly states that “Every Aadhaar number holder to establish his identity, may voluntarily use his Aadhaar number in physical or electronic form by way of authentication or offline verification, or in such other form as may be notified, in such manner as may be specified by regulations.” The Aadhaar Act provides for the use of Aadhaar number as proof of identity of a person, subject to authentication.

However, the mandate of mandatory linkage of Aadhaar is restricted to availing only Direct Benefits Transfers (DBTs) and it can’t be for any other purpose. Thus, Aadhaar number holders may only voluntarily use Aadhaar Number to establish their identity. Therefore, a distinct, independent, unique identifier is required to be identified as a Health ID and hence, the health ID is different from the Aadhar ID and one should not be confused for the other. In the pilot, Health ID can be created and linked to the Aadhaar or an individual’s mobile number, as per his/her convenience.

ABDM is working towards introducing more ID documents to allow users to create their Health ID using other ID documents such as Driving License, PAN Card, Passport etc.Currently, Health ID is also linked to a PHR Application using easy to remember Health ID alias / PHR Address (e.g. xyz@ndhm) which enables a user to access/share health records and provide/revoke consent for data sharing. Going forward, it is proposed to make e-KYC mandatory for creation of Health ID and discontinue Health ID creation via mobile as a move towards creating a trustable and verified ID.