The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has achieved a significant milestone in its nationwide mission-mode drive for Mandatory Biometric Updates (MBU), completing over 20 million (over 2 crore) MBUs for school children across the country.

The initiative was enabled by UIDAI’s technological integration with the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), which provides visibility of the MBU status of children at schools.

The special drive, initiated in September 2025, has by now covered over 1.56 lakh schools, enabling school children to complete their Aadhaar biometric updates conveniently through dedicated school-level camps and coordinated outreach by UIDAI and State/UT education departments. This has helped MBU service to reach children directly at their schools, making the process more accessible and convenient for crores of students.

Aadhaar enrolment for children below five years captures demographic information and photograph, while fingerprints and iris biometrics are not captured at that age as these biometrics are still developing. MBU helps ensure that the child’s Aadhaar continues to have updated biometric information.

MBU is required when a child attains the age of 5 years and again at 15 years. Timely completion helps ensure a smoother Aadhaar authentication experience as children progress through school and higher education and access various services and benefits where Aadhaar authentication may be required.

To encourage timely completion and make the service more accessible, UIDAI had waived the charges for MBU for children in the 7–15 years age group from 1 October 2025 for a period of one year. MBU for children in the 5–7 years and 15–17 years age groups continue to be free of charge. So, technically MBU is now free between the ages of 5-17 years till 30 Sept 2026.

Lack of MBU in Aadhaar may lead to difficulties while carrying out authentication for receiving benefits under various Government schemes, registering in competitive and university examinations like NEET, JEE, CUET etc. UIDAI has been urging parents and guardians to complete the MBU in Aadhaar for their children.

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Vinod Kumar / Kanishk Sharma