DigiLocker and Aadhaar together will now be used to provide a one-stop solution for reconciliation and updating of identity and address of individuals, according to the Finance Minister's Budget 2023 speech. This is likely to help people easily share or update the information maintained by various government agencies, regulators and regulated entities.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman said, "A one-stop solution for reconciliation and updating of identity and address of individuals maintained by various government agencies, regulators and regulated entities will be established using DigiLocker service and Aadhaar as foundational identity."

DIGITAL LOCKER

DigiLocker is a key initiative under Digital India, the government’s flagship program aimed at transforming the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. DigiLocker ties into Digital India’s vision area of providing citizens with a secure platform on a public cloud to store and access documents easily.

As DigiLocker is a platform for the verification of documents and certificates in a digital way, it eliminates the need to carry physical documents. DigiLocker has helped to bring about a shift towards paperless governance as citizens and departments have been able to move from paper-based processes to paperless processes.

Documents on the locker are legally valid ones under the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000. Under Rule 9 A of The Information Technology (Preservation and Retention of Information by Intermediaries Providing Digital Locker Facilities) Rules, 2016, the documents available on Digital Locker are to be treated on a par with the original physical documents.

HOW TO USE DIGILOCKER

To use DigiLocker, you must scan a physical copy of the certificate or document concerned -- such as a PAN card, Aadhaar card or driving license -- and upload it to the DigiLocker app with the user's e-signature. An e-signature is akin to self-attesting documents.