The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has clarified that there is no fixed limit on the number of times a person can request a date of birth (DoB) update in Aadhaar. However, a second or subsequent change is subject to a much stricter process than the first update. According to UIDAI's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), any further request will be handled under stringent rules depending on the existing DoB status, documents submitted earlier and the circumstances behind the correction.
Under normal circumstances, there should be no need to change the DoB in the Aadhaar database. A first-time DoB update can arise if the existing DoB is marked as 'declared' or 'approximate', if an operator entered it incorrectly, or if a person wants to correct a DoB recorded using a false or fraudulently obtained document. For Indian residents and NRIs aged 18 and above, the DoB can be updated using any acceptable proof-of-DoB document listed by UIDAI. For Indian residents below 18, a Birth Certificate is mandatory, while NRIs below 18 can submit either a Birth Certificate or an Indian Passport.
The rules become much stricter for second or subsequent DoB updates after the first change. If the first-time DoB update proof was not a Birth Certificate, you must submit a Birth Certificate. If the earlier proof was a Birth Certificate, you must submit a corrected Birth Certificate with the same Birth Registration Number (BRN) and issued by the same registrar, along with an affidavit. These subsequent-update rules apply to Indian residents and NRIs, irrespective of age, and the same operator-error provision also applies to subsequent updates.
UIDAI provides a way to correct a DoB that was previously recorded using a false or fraudulently obtained document. In such cases, the person gets one final opportunity to correct the DoB. If the earlier document was a Birth Certificate, the applicant must submit a corrected Birth Certificate with the same BRN and issued by the same registrar, along with an affidavit. If the earlier document was not a Birth Certificate, for Indian residents aged 18 and above, the applicant can submit a corrected version of the same document, provided it remains an accepted DoB document, or alternatively, a Birth Certificate along with an affidavit.
If a first or subsequent DoB update shows that a person was actually older than the age declared at enrolment, the update request can be rejected, and Aadhaar may be deactivated. This could apply if the person was over five when enrolled in the below-5 category or over 18 when enrolled as a minor. For foreign residents, DoB updates are allowed only in cases of operator error, with the Aadhaar DoB corrected to match the Proof of Identity-cum-Proof of DoB document submitted during enrolment, along with a self-declaration.
