Accenture, Mahindra Satyam and L1 Identity Solutions get UIDAI contracts

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has selected three biometric solution agencies - consortia led by Accenture, Mahindra Satyam - Morpho and L1 Identity Solutions - and awarded them contracts to implement the core biometric identification system for the "Aadhar" programme.

The goal of the programme is to provide each Indian resident with a unique identification number – Aadhaar, and enable easier, more efficient and secure access to welfare schemes. The programme is designed to confirm the identity of the 1.2 billion residents of India, making it the largest identity management programme in the world.

The initial phase of the contract will run up to two years and a total of 200 million residents are expected to be de-duplicated by a combination of the three biometric solution agencies in the first stage of the programme.

According to an official press release, the entire selection process was completed in a record three months and many new international benchmarks, including one of the lowest prices for de-duplication, have been achieved.

The multi-modal system and allocation of de-duplication transactions among the three agencies based on the performance of each system is being attempted for the first time in identity resolution systems anywhere.

The scope of work for the biometrics solution providers will, inter-alia, include the design, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and support of multi-modal Automatic Biometric Identification Subsystem (ABIS) and multi-modal Software Development Kit (SDK) for client enrollment station, verification server, manual adjudication and monitoring function of the UID application.

These functions would go into creating the ability of UIDAI to ensure de-duplication during the allotment of UID numbers based on the biometric information collected from the residents, the release added.

NNN