What is DigiLocker – Documents Supported, How to Sign Up and Use it?
DigiLocker is a cloud-based digital wallet where individuals can keep their legal documents. It allows people to upload and access documents like PAN cards, vaccination certificates, Aadhaar cards, policy documents, driver’s licenses, voter ID cards, etc.
DigiLocker is an important initiative taken by the Digital India initiative. The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) provides this service to every citizen of India. People can use documents stored in this digital locker to share and verify the authenticity of e-documents.
To avail of services on Digilocker, an Aadhaar number is required. The Aadhaar number is also necessary for signing up on the Digilocker app.
Key Features of DigiLocker
The user interface of the DigiLocker app is user-friendly and easily accessible. Below you will find a few key features that make the navigation smooth and quick-
- Dashboard: This is where you land after you log in to your account. The dashboard offers the option to navigate to all parts of the app. There is also an option to view issued documents and access the documents linked with the DigiLocker app.
- Uploaded documents: In this section, you can view all the uploaded documents. You can select any uploaded document to share with others.
- Shared documents: All documents that you have shared are listed in this section. You will find the URLs of the documents to keep track of.
- Issuers: This section lists issuers, which can be any authority or department linked with DigiLocker. You will find a link to any documents that they might have issued to you.
- Issued documents: This section contains a list of links to documents that have been issued by the government authorities integrated with DigiLocker. To access the links, the user simply needs to click on the URLs present.
- Activity: Any activity that the user performs is all visible here. A record is present of all the uploaded documents and the documents that were shared.
How to Sign Up for DigiLocker?
The DigiLocker sign-up process is pretty simple and straightforward. Just follow the steps given below:
- Step 1: Visit the official website of DigiLocker. Alternatively, you can download the DigiLocker app. Â
- Step 2: Next, click on the ‘Sign up’ option.
- Step 3: Provide personal details like your name, sex, date of birth and the mobile number that is registered with your Aadhaar card.
- Step 4: Set up the 6 digits PIN or password for your DigiLocker account and click on the ‘submit’ button.
- Step 5: Enter the OTP received on your registered number and click on ‘submit’.
Your DigiLocker account is now ready. To sign in to Digilocker, you just have to use your username and password.
Benefits of DigiLocker
1. The benefits of DigiLocker users include:
- Reduction of costs involved with paper documents
- Timely delivery of policy copies
- Speeding up the process of claims and settlement
- Restricting the occurrences of disputes and fraud
- Allowing any user to save, authenticate and share their documents from anywhere without any hassle
2. Benefits for the agencies are:
- The process of verification is much less time-consuming. It allows the government to verify data provided by issuers after obtaining the user’s consent.
- DigiLocker is a platform that provides optimum security to the user. The user’s consent is mandatory for any activity to take place.
- The documents issued from DigiLocker are legal copies and can be accessed directly.
- As everything happens in the digital space, the verification process is cut short with no requirement of administrative expenses.
How does the DigiLocker Work?
You need to open an account using your Aadhaar number to access Digilocker’s cloud storage service. After opening an account, you can upload all your important legal documents. You can upload up to 1 GB of documents issued by the Indian Government to your Digilocker app.
These documents can be accessed via different government agencies to authenticate your information. The documents uploaded on a DigiLocker are considered to be the same as any physical copies according to the Rule 9A of the Information Technology Rules (Preservation and Retention of Information by Intermediaries Providing Digital Locker Facilities).
You can access your stored documents anytime and use them for authentication at any government institution. Moreover, your documents are kept fully secured, and they can only be shared with your explicit consent. Digilocker uses your Aadhaar number for verification and also has a two-step authentication system involving your mobile number and a password. Â
Which Documents are Supported by DigiLocker?
DigiLocker supports any legal and government-issued documents. Here’s a list:
- PAN card
- Voter ID card
- Aadhaar card
- Driver’s license
- Vehicle registration certificates
- Policy documents
- Student’s mark sheets
Is Storing Documents in Digilocker Safe?
As DigiLocker is a government-based initiative, it has stringent security protocols. To protect the user’s data, it uses 256 Bit SSL encryption. The process of signing up takes place via OTP sent to the user’s registered mobile number. It also incorporates ISO 27001 data centre.
However, take all the precautionary measures to ensure your data is safe and uncompromised. Do not share your PIN or password with anyone else.
What are the Advantages of Using DigiLocker?
Some of the advantages of accessing DigiLocker are-
- It contributes to the mission of Digital India. As a bonus, it is steering the Indians toward a paperless future.
- It significantly saves time as the entire process takes place digitally, which also helps in reducing the overall workload. The absence of a manual verification process leads to less pressure on administrative bodies.
- With the help of DigiLocker, there is unlimited ease of access. There is no requirement to carry physical papers; anyone from anywhere can easily access the documents.
- Being under the regulation of government protocols, DigiLocker provides an optimum level of security to its users. It guarantees authenticity to the documents making the verification process hassle-free.
- DigiLocker is a cloud-based service; there is no need for external labour to hand over documents. Government agencies can simply upload documents, which will be accessible to respective users.
- The introduction of DigiLocker has effectively reduced the chances of corruption by eliminating intermediaries. This process of uploading the documents and verifying the same occurs online, meaning there is no interference from any third party.
What are the Disadvantages of Using DigiLocker?
Here are a few disadvantages of DigiLocker:
- DigiLocker is accessible to only those who have an Aadhaar card. An Aadhaar number is mandatory for signing up for an account. Any person without An Aadhaar card will not be able to access any services from the app.
- No NRI can access this app’s services as it is mandatory for the mobile number to be registered in India.
In What Ways can DigiLocker be Beneficial for Policyholders?
DigiLocker will be beneficial for policyholders as there is the available option to store policy papers in the cloud. There will be no need to worry about losing the papers or carrying physical copies of the papers.
Anyone can access any uploaded documents from anywhere and share them with anyone. This ease of access is the most beneficial for any policyholders.
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Final Word
With the new era of digitisation, most government-related services are now available online. The Government of India has provided people with the option to use DigiLocker to access and verify documents digitally. Not only does this app keep one’s important documents safe, but it helps to keep the original documents safe as people do not have to carry them around.
FAQs
Ans: In DigiLocker, there are multiple formats of files that are allowed to be stored. Currently, the application supports files in PDF, JPEG and PNG formats. The maximum allowed file size is 10 MB.Â
Ans: There is no requirement to pay a fee to avail the DigiLocker facility. Anyone with an Aadhaar card and a registered mobile number can open an account in the DigiLocker to keep their documents safely.
Ans: You should receive the OTP to verify your account instantly. In case it takes time, know that it is probably due to temporary server problems or some issue with your mobile network. It is advisable to wait for a few more minutes and try again after some time.
Ans: The information given in your DigiLocker account will be the same as your Aadhaar card. Hence, there is no specific method to change any information just for the DigiLocker account.Â
Ans: The option to change your mobile number is available in the profile section of your account. However, the option is only valid for people who do not have their Aadhaar number linked with Digilocker.Â
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