How to File an Aadhaar (Aadhar) Complaint and Escalate It if Nothing Happens?

Where can you file an Aadhaar complaint?

UIDAI, the government body that runs Aadhaar, takes complaints through several channels. For a complaint, a written record matters most. Email and the online complaint give you one. A phone call gives you only what you write down.

Agent hours, languages and the SMS service are explained in our Aadhaar customer care 1947 guide. This page goes deeper into complaints and what to do when they go nowhere.

What should you keep ready before you complain?

A complaint with numbers and dates is easier to trace. Tick these off before you call or write. Keep the same list for every later step.

• Your request number: the URN (update request number) or other number on your centre slip, the SRN (service request number, "S" plus 13 digits, for online, app or Head of Family requests) or the 28-digit EID (enrolment ID, for a new Aadhaar)
• Dates: when you applied, when you first complained, and each follow-up
• Earlier numbers: every ticket or complaint number, with its date
• Receipt or slip from the centre, and the amount you paid
• Centre details: name, address and, if you have it, the operator's ID
• Screenshots of the status page, error or rejection message
• Copies of your proofs, if the complaint is about a rejected update or a lifetime limit

Never share your OTP with anyone, in any complaint. Don't post your full 12-digit Aadhaar number on social media or send it to unknown numbers. Quote your URN, SRN or EID instead.

How do you file your first Aadhaar complaint?

Start with UIDAI's own channels. You can use more than one: for example, call 1947 and then email the same details so you have them in writing.

1. Pick a written channel if you can

   Email and the myAadhaar complaint page leave a record. If you call 1947, follow up with an email that repeats the ticket number.

2. Describe the problem in a few lines

   Say what you asked for, when, and what went wrong. Quote your URN, SRN or EID. Add earlier numbers and attach screenshots to the email.

3. Ask for one clear outcome

   For example: "Please process my update" or "Please tell me why it was rejected". One clear request is easier to act on.

4. Save the number and the date

   You'll know it worked when you have a ticket or complaint number, or a sent email, with today's date.

   No number at all? Send an email anyway. Its date becomes your record.

How long should you wait before escalating?

Before you escalate, check whether your case is really late. Use UIDAI's own time standards below. The Citizen's Charter sets 30 days for resolving a grievance.

Waiting for a new Aadhaar? See Enrolment status and Aadhaar not received. For updates, see Update status and rejection fixes.

What is the escalation ladder if nothing happens?

If UIDAI's first channels don't solve your problem, move up one step at a time. The order below is our suggestion, not a UIDAI rule. It follows the channels UIDAI lists, starting with UIDAI itself. Quote the same URN, SRN or EID, and every earlier number, at each step.

Some cases belong with the Regional Office from the start: a lifetime-limit exception (after you apply at a centre), a living person marked dead, and twins with mixed-up biometrics. See which route fits your complaint.

People report update status stuck at "in progress" for 90 days or more, with their 1947 tickets ignored. Some report turning to RTI. A clear written trail from step 1 makes every later step stronger.

How do you write to a UIDAI Regional Office?

UIDAI has Regional Offices (ROs) that handle cases a centre or the helpline can't. Write to the office that covers your state.

UIDAI also lists a Tech Centre in Bengaluru. In the lifetime-limit exception route, it reprocesses the update after the Regional Office checks it. The state list comes from UIDAI's 2021 resident handbook and may have changed, so confirm it with 1947 before you write. We don't list addresses or phone numbers, because we couldn't confirm them; use the contact details on uidai.gov.in.

What Regional Offices handle

• Lifetime limit used up for name (twice), gender or date of birth (once each): apply at a centre, then email or post the URN slip and proofs to the RO, or call 1947.
• Alive but marked dead: an application in the Annexure format of Circular 02/2025 (steps).
• Age-fraud flag on date of birth: reactivation goes through the RO.
• Twins whose biometrics got mixed up.
• Complaints not solved through 1947, email or myAadhaar (our suggested step 2).

1. Find your Regional Office

   Find your state in the table above, then confirm with 1947, because the list is from 2021. Use only contact details from 1947 or uidai.gov.in.

2. Write a short, clear letter

   Keep it to one page. Put your request number in the subject line. You can adapt this example:

   Subject: Aadhaar update pending, URN [your URN], complaint numbers [numbers]

   I applied for [what you asked for] at [centre name, place] on [date]. The status has shown [status] since [date]. I complained on 1947 on [date] (ticket [number]) and by email on [date]. It is still not solved. Please process my request or tell me what is missing. Copies of my URN slip, proofs and screenshots are attached.

   [Your name], [registered mobile], [date]

3. Send it and keep proof

   UIDAI's exception route allows email or post. Keep the sent email, or the postal receipt.

   You'll know it worked when you have a dated copy of what you sent.

4. Follow up

   The lifetime-limit exception route has no fixed timeline. Follow up with the same reference. If nothing moves, go to CPGRAMS.

Name or date-of-birth limit used up? The exception documents are in Change your name, Change date of birth and Update status and rejection fixes.

How do you complain about UIDAI on CPGRAMS?

CPGRAMS (pgportal.gov.in) is the central government's public grievance portal. UIDAI lists it as one of its grievance channels. Use it when UIDAI's own channels haven't solved your problem. Don't skip the earlier steps: your earlier complaint numbers show that you tried.

1. Gather your trail

   List every earlier step with its date and number: 1947 tickets, emails, the myAadhaar complaint and your Regional Office letter.

2. File the grievance

   Open pgportal.gov.in and file a grievance about your UIDAI case. Write it in a few short lines, as in the letter example.

3. Keep the grievance number

   You'll know it worked when you have a grievance number or acknowledgement from the portal. Save it with today's date.

How do you file an RTI with UIDAI?

An RTI (Right to Information) application asks UIDAI for information, such as the status of your request and the reason for a delay or rejection. It is not a complaint. People with stuck cases report turning to RTI to get answers. File it on rtionline.gov.in and choose UIDAI. A reply is due within 30 days.

1. Choose UIDAI on RTI Online

   Open rtionline.gov.in and pick UIDAI as the authority you are asking.

2. Ask for facts, not favours

   RTI is for information. Ask short, numbered questions. For example:

   • What is the current status of my request with URN [number], filed on [date]?
   • If it is pending, at which stage is it pending, and why?
   • If it was rejected, what was the reason?
   • What action was taken on my complaints [numbers, dates]?

3. Pay the fee and submit

   The RTI fee is ₹10 per application; applicants below the poverty line (BPL) don't pay. Pay it on the portal.

   You'll know it worked when you have an acknowledgement or registration number from the portal.

4. Wait for the reply

   The reply is due within 30 days. If it gives a reason for a rejection, fix that and apply again, or take it to your Regional Office.

Which route fits your complaint?

Different problems start in different places. Some go straight to the Regional Office, and money fraud goes to the cyber crime helpline first. Answer the question below, or use the table.

How do you complain if a centre overcharged you?

UIDAI says charges are the same at every centre. A new Aadhaar and a child's mandatory biometric update (at 5–7 and 15–17) are free, and a child's biometric update at 7–15 is free until 30 Sep 2027. A demographic update (name, address, date of birth, gender, mobile, email) is ₹75. A biometric update is ₹125, and a biometric-authenticated print of e-Aadhaar ₹30–₹40 (UIDAI's own Seva Kendras list ₹40). Add up your visit with the fee calculator. People report being asked for ₹200 for a ₹75 update.

A December 2023 news report of a Lok Sabha reply says that, if overcharging is proven, the operator is suspended and the registrar fined ₹50,000. Complaints go to 1947 or [email protected]. People also report that complaining is hard without the operator's ID, so collect details while you are still at the centre.

Full fee list: Aadhaar fees and charges. What to expect at a centre: Aadhaar centres: what to expect.

What if you are alive but recorded as dead?

Living people have reportedly been marked dead in Karnataka, Odisha and Rajasthan, and their pension and ration stopped. UIDAI's Circular 02/2025 (7 Jul 2025) sets out the fix. It doesn't start with 1947: you apply to a UIDAI Regional or State office.

We couldn't confirm where to get the Annexure format, so ask the office or 1947. Keep a copy of your application and its date. No decision after 30 days? Complain with that date and climb the ladder. Full steps: Aadhaar deactivated? Reactivate it.

When do people go to court, and what does the Aadhaar Act allow?

Most complaints never need a court. Still, some people have taken Aadhaar problems to a High Court. These are reported examples, not a standard step:

• Madras High Court (17 Oct 2025): reportedly held that correcting your Aadhaar is a fundamental right.
• Uttarakhand High Court (7 May 2026): reportedly ordered a Regional Office to fix a date of birth within 10 days.
• Others report needing the High Court for a 74-year-old widow's blocked pension and for a minor's date of birth that was 4 years off.

The Aadhaar Act also sets penalties for offences such as impersonation (section 34) and disclosing identity information (section 37). A secondary source says Aadhaar holders can complain directly under section 47 of the Act. Take a lawyer's advice before any legal step.

What problems come up with Aadhaar complaints, and how do you fix them?

Bottom line

Start with 1947, [email protected] or the myAadhaar complaint page, and keep every number and date. Give UIDAI the 30 days its charter allows. Then climb one step at a time: Regional Office, CPGRAMS, RTI. Money lost? Call 1930 first. And never share your OTP.