Security Consulting & Compliance
UIDAI AUA / KUA Audit
Aadhaar authentication and e-KYC user agency audit against UIDAI requirements.
Every engagement includes manual validation, a two audience report and free re-testing.
Get a scoped quote+91 96682 00222What this actually is
If you authenticate Aadhaar or perform e-KYC, you are an Authentication User Agency or a KYC User Agency, and UIDAI requires an annual audit by an empanelled auditor. The obligations are strict because the data is national identity data.
The recurring findings are consistent. Aadhaar numbers stored where they should not be, logs retained beyond the permitted window, biometric data cached by an SDK nobody reviewed, and encryption performed at the wrong point in the flow.
We audit the full authentication chain, from the capture device through to your ASA connection, and we prepare the report in the format UIDAI expects.
What we go after
- Aadhaar data storage, masking and retention review
- Authentication and e-KYC flow security
- Biometric capture device and registered device compliance
- Encryption at capture and in transit to the ASA
- Audit log retention and access control
- ASA and AUA network connectivity security
- Personnel access, background checks and training
- Exception handling and incident reporting
How we run it
- 01
Gap assessment
We measure you against the standard as it is actually audited, not as it reads on paper.
- 02
Remediation plan
Every gap gets an owner, an effort estimate and a date. You decide what lands this quarter.
- 03
Implement and evidence
We write the policy, build the control and collect the artefact that proves it is working.
- 04
Internal audit
A dry run under audit conditions, so nothing in the real one is a surprise.
- 05
Certify and maintain
We sit on your side of the table for the audit, then keep the evidence current between cycles.
What you receive
- UIDAI audit report in the prescribed format
- Findings with remediation guidance
- Data flow diagrams for the authentication chain
- Compliance certificate on closure
Who needs this
Banks, telecom operators, fintechs, government departments and any entity performing Aadhaar authentication or e-KYC.
How long it takes
Four to eight weeks for the annual audit cycle.
Standards this satisfies
- Aadhaar Act
- UIDAI regulations
- CERT-In
- DPDP Act
Why it matters
Almost nobody starts a certification because they want one. It starts because a customer will not sign without it, a regulator has asked, or a deal is sitting still while procurement waits for evidence. The commercial driver is real and it is worth being honest that it, rather than security, is usually what pays for the programme.
The security benefit is real too, but it comes from a specific place: the discipline of having to evidence that a control operated over a period, rather than that it was configured once. That is the part that changes behaviour, and it is also the part organisations consistently underestimate.
Choose how you want this delivered
Most of the price difference between quotes comes down to this one choice, and it is rarely explained. Pick one to see what it covers, what it suits and what it costs you.
Gap assessment, then we work alongside your team through remediation, internal audit and the certification audit itself. Your people do the work and own the outcome, which is what makes the management system survive after we leave. This is what most organisations should choose.
Choose this when
- You have a team who can absorb the work alongside their day job
- You want the capability to remain in-house afterwards
- First certification where documentation is the main gap
Effort and cost
Moderate. The calendar is longer than a managed programme because the work competes with everyone's existing responsibilities.
Scope it yourself, before you call anyone
Answer a few questions and you get an indicative number, the working behind it and what your answers tell us. It runs in your browser, so nothing you type reaches us.
Which framework are you going for?
What we look for, and keep finding
These are the classes of problem this work exists to surface. Not every engagement finds all of them, but these are the ones that turn up often enough to be worth naming.
Controls that exist on paper only
The policy says quarterly access reviews. The evidence shows one, eighteen months ago, and it was not completed. This is the single most common audit finding across every framework.
Scope drawn too narrowly
A certificate covering a subset of the business that customers assume covers all of it. Auditors check the boundary; buyers rarely do. Getting scope right is the most consequential early decision.
Evidence that cannot be reproduced
A screenshot proves a control was configured on the day someone took it. A framework wants proof it operated throughout the period. Those are very different, and the gap only appears at the audit.
Exceptions with no expiry
Risk accepted once, recorded, and never revisited. Over a few years these accumulate into an undocumented second control framework nobody is managing.
Third parties outside the boundary
Processing carried out by a supplier who was assessed at onboarding and never since, while your obligation for their handling of your data continues regardless.
Who runs your engagement
A lead assessor who has sat on the other side of the table
Compliance work is led by an assessor who has taken organisations through certification, not by a consultant reading the standard for the first time with you. They know which findings a certification body will actually raise, which is a different list from what the standard technically says.
Questions we get asked
We use a third-party KYC provider. Are we still audited?
If you hold AUA or KUA status, yes. Using a provider does not transfer the obligation, and the provider's controls become part of your audit scope.
What is the single most common finding?
Aadhaar numbers stored in full somewhere they were never meant to be. Usually an application log, a database backup or an analytics pipeline that nobody thought about.
Often scoped alongside
- CERT-In Cyber Security AuditCERT-In empanelled audit and certification for government and regulated entities.Read more
- ISO 27001 Audit & CertificationISMS design, implementation, internal audit and certification support end to end.Read more
- ISO 27017 Compliance AuditCloud-specific security controls for providers and customers.Read more
- ISO 27018 Compliance AuditProtection of personally identifiable information in public clouds.Read more
Ready to scope your uidai aua / kua audit?
Thirty minutes with a senior engineer, and you leave with a written scope and indicative effort.