DigiLocker, the National Digital Locker System by the government of India, is built with an idea of paperless governance. This platform issues and verifies documents and certificates digitally, thus eliminating the usage of physical documents. Launched in July 2015, this app has over 31.04 million registered users and has been a great success in India.
Especially after the introduction of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, forgetting to carry a driving license or vehicle registration paper creates a massive hole in your pocket. However, carrying soft copies of these documents in the DigiLocker or m-parivahan platform is now considered to be valid by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
Apart from it, people use DigiLocker to secure Aadhaar card, PAN, Voter ID, School certificates, Birth Certificates, Insurance Policies, and other documents. Organizations like the CBSE, the Income Tax Department or the Registrar Office also use it to push electronic copies of certificates and documents directly into your e-lockers via this application.
According to the DigiLocker website, Indian citizens who sign up for this application gets a dedicated cloud storage space, which is directly linked to the respective Aadhaar (UIDAI) number. This storage space, which was initially allocated 100 MB is now increased to 1 GB.
Other benefits of DigiLocker includes:
· You can access the digital documents anytime, anywhere, and also share them online.
· It reduces the administrative tasks of government departments by decreasing paper usage.
· The authenticity of a document is easily validated as it is issued directly by the registered issuers.
· Similar to the process of self-attestation, you can eSign all your self-uploaded documents.
This key initiative by Digital India will reduce the number of fake document circulation, which has been increased over the last few years. Besides, it lessens the burden of carrying physical documents or couriering it for submission. One can just store and share the file in a few clicks.
Available both on mobile apps (both Android & iOS) and website, you can use them for free with no charges. If you are a new user, the below-mentioned steps will guide you on how to use DigiLocker.
How to add or upload your documents on the DigiLocker app?
Step 1: Download the DigiLocker app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Or you can simply register yourself on the official website – digilocker.gov.in.
Step 2: Sign up using your Aadhaar number and other details required for verification. Linking your DigiLocker with Aadhaar is a must if you want to get your documents into this app.
Step 3: Once you have signed up successfully, tap on the ‘Get your digital Driving License link’ or other documents that you would like to add on the DigiLocker platform.
Step 4: If you have chosen to link driving license details, fill in driving license number, and tap on the ‘get document’ option. Once this number is validated, the same will be made available in the ‘Issued Document’ section. Similarly, multiple options are available wherein you can upload other documents and access it anytime via appropriate login details.
In case, if you forget your login details, you can visit https://digilocker.gov.in/index.php#no-back and tap on Forgot Password/Forgot Username link to recover your account.
Step 5: Users are also provided with an option to edit the name of an uploaded file using the edit icon, which is located next to the filename.
The digital driving license and vehicle registration certificate in the DigiLocker account can be used to verify the authenticity of an individual either by scanning the QR code, which is present in the digital documents or with the help of a QR scan option present on the DigiLocker mobile app.
How safe is DigiLocker?
DigiLocker is explicitly safe and secure. All precautionary measures are taken by the government to ensure your data is well-protected and uncompromised. The safety features of DigiLocker includes:
- 256 bit SSL encryption
- Mobile verification for sign up
- Aadhaar authentication based document access
- User consent-based application
- Data back up in a secure environment
- Security audit by renowned audit agency
- Hosted in an ISO 27001 security certified data center
- Standard software development practices followed
So, all your uploaded documents are at safer hands.
Let us hope that the government’s initiative to push us towards a digital India objective will make our life easier.
