Tirupati: In a bid to curb fraudulent practices and enhance transparency, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams would implement live Aadhaar authentication and eKYC services.
Recently approved by the TTD trust board led by chairman BR Naidu, the initiative is designed to ensure genuine pilgrims receive seamless and secure services, utilising the provisions of Section 4(4)(b)(ii) of the Aadhaar Act under Good Governance.
Currently, TTD lacks a robust mechanism to validate the identity proofs submitted by pilgrims during darshan and accommodation bookings, both online and offline. This gap has led to fraudulent practices, including impersonation, bulk bookings and unauthorised resale of services.
A comprehensive review of TTD’s booking system revealed several alarming irregularities. For instance, as many as 110 rooms were booked within a year using the same mobile number, while 124 cases showed 12 or more rooms reserved with a single ID proof.
Online booking trends were equally disturbing. Some 807 accommodation bookings were found tied to a single mobile number and 926 bookings were linked to one email ID.
Additionally, in the lucky DIP registration system, over 1,279 registrations were traced to a single mobile number, while 48 registrations used the same email ID.
Even the Sarva Darshan token system showed evidence of impersonation, with 14 tokens issued under the same ID proof.
These findings underscore the presence of rackets in the TTD’s booking infrastructure, with middlemen and touts undercutting the system. They reserve rooms or darshan slots in bulk and resell them at inflated prices. This deprives genuine pilgrims of timely and affordable access to TTD’s services.
To address these challenges, TTD would implement Aadhaar-based authentication and eKYC systems across its service platforms.
“This initiative involves integrating Aadhaar authentication at every stage of the booking and service process to verify the identity of pilgrims, a TTD official said.
He said the integration will leverage facial recognition and Aadhaar-linked biometric verification, ensuring that the services are accessed only by registered individuals. This would eliminate impersonation and “reduce”, (meaning, not fully eliminate) the role of middlemen.
The Aadhaar authentication process will validate demographic details such as name, age, gender and address via a simple “Yes” or “No” confirmation from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
For online services, eKYC will utilise OTP-based or biometric verification to provide detailed demographic data, including photographs, ensuring foolproof identity checks.
TTD’s partnership with UIDAI involves a one-time registration fee of Rs 20 lakh for two years to operate as an Authentication User Agency (AUA) and KYC User Agency (KUA). Each Aadhaar authentication will cost Rs 0.004 per transaction, while eKYC transactions will be charged at Rs 3.40 each.
TTD officials have worked closely with UIDAI to assess the technical and operational feasibility of the initiative. UIDAI officials visited Tirupati to discuss the integration of Aadhaar authentication and confirmed that TTD could implement these services under the Aadhaar Act, 2016, for purposes aligned with good governance.
As part of the compliance process, the state government will issue a notification in line with the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The final authorisation for Aadhaar integration will come from the central government.
Purpose of the initiative:
Curb fraudulent practices in TTD’s booking system.
Ensure genuine pilgrims have seamless and secure access to services.
Enhance transparency and reliability in administrative processes.
Identified irregularities in booking systems:
110 rooms booked in a year using the same mobile number.
124 cases of 12 or more rooms reserved with a single ID proof.
Online booking irregularities with 807 reservations tied to one mobile number and 926 to a single email ID.
Lucky DIP registration misuse, including 1,279 registrations with one mobile number.
Instances of impersonation in Sarva Darshan tokens.
Proposed Aadhaar-based authentication:
Integration of Aadhaar-linked biometric and facial recognition technology for identity verification
Validation of demographic details through UIDAI’s “Yes” or “No” system
Use of OTP-based or biometric eKYC for detailed identity checks during online bookings
Financial details:
Rs 20 lakh one-time registration fee for two years as AUA and KUA
Rs 0.004 per Aadhaar authentication transaction
Rs 3.40 per eKYC transaction
Compliance and authorisation:
Approved by UIDAI as per the Aadhaar Act, 2016
State Government and Union Ministry notifications required before implementation
Impact on TTD services:
Eliminates impersonation and reduces the role of middlemen
Ensures equitable and hassle-free access to accommodations and darshan slots for genuine pilgrims
Strengthens public trust in TTD’s governance and sets a benchmark for other religious institutions