The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has achieved a significant milestone in its nationwide mission-mode drive for Mandatory Biometric Updates (MBU), completing over 20 million (2 crore) biometric updates for school children across India. This special drive, initiated in September 2025, has covered approximately 1.56 lakh schools through dedicated school-level camps and coordinated outreach efforts between UIDAI and State/UT education departments.
The initiative was enabled by UIDAI's technological integration with the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), which provides visibility of the MBU status of children at schools. This integration allowed the service to reach children directly at their schools, making the process more accessible and convenient for millions of students.
MBU is required when a child attains the age of 5 years and again at 15 years, as biometrics are not captured for children below 5 years since their fingerprints and iris patterns are still developing. Timely completion ensures smoother Aadhaar authentication experience as children progress through school and higher education and access various services and benefits where Aadhaar authentication may be required, including government schemes and competitive examinations like NEET, JEE, and CUET.
To encourage timely completion, UIDAI has made MBU free for children between the ages of 5-17 years until September 30, 2026. This fee waiver was implemented from October 1, 2025, for a period of one year for the 7-15 years age group, while MBU for children in the 5-7 years and 15-17 years age groups continues to be free of charge. UIDAI has been urging parents and guardians to complete the MBU for their children to avoid authentication difficulties for various government services and examinations.