Internet has made our day to day tasks very convenient. Now-a-days, almost everything can be accessed online. From paying electricity bills to discussing issues by attending online conferences, everything is possible. Digi Locker is one of the initiatives by the government which has made the accessibility of important documents through Digi Locker system very easy and less time consuming.
What is Digi Locker? How can you create user ID for Digi Locker and access and share the documents through this platform? What are the benefits of Digi Locker?
Digi Locker
Digi Locker is a platform provided by Ministry of Electronics and IT where the e-documents can be verified and shared with the government agencies. It is one of the steps taken by government under Digital India Initiative.
Targeted at the idea of paperless governance, DigiLocker is a platform for issuance and verification of documents & certificates in a digital way, thus eliminating the use of physical documents. Indian citizens who sign up for a DigiLocker account get a dedicated cloud storage space that is linked to their Aadhaar (UIDAI) number. Organizations that are registered with Digital Locker can push electronic copies of documents and certificates (e.g. driving license, Voter ID, School certificates) directly into citizens lockers. Citizens can also upload scanned copies of their legacy documents in their accounts. These legacy documents can be electronically signed using the eSign facility.[i]
The three entities or persons involved in the process of using DigiLocker are as follows:
- Resident- The one who uses the DigiLocker service is called resident
- Issuer- Issuer is the one who issues e-documents to the resident and makes them available online. Examples of issuer are CBSE, Registrar Office, Income Tax department, etc.
- Requester- The entity who requests the e-document of the resident is called requester. Examples are University Passport Office, Regional Transport Office, etc.
Creating User ID
1. Go the website “https://digilocker.gov.in/” and click on “Sign up”.
2. Citizens having aadhar cards can create user ID and it should be ensured that their current mobile number is linked with Aadhar number.
3. Aadhar number is to be written and there will be two options to proceed. Either using OTP or Fingerprint.
- Using OTP- OTP sent to the mobile number (which has been registered with Aadhar card) is to be written .
- Using Fingerprint- This option can be used if the current mobile number with the Aadhar card. For this, biometric device for scanning the fingerprint is needed. Username and password will be created with either of the two methods above.
4. Create the username and password and click on “Sign up”.
5. Now, go the website “https://digilocker.gov.in/” and click on “Sign in” and fill in the username and password created in the above step. There are 3 options for signing in:
- With username and password;
- Aadhar number and OTP;
- Facebook ID validation
6. Next step is to upload the documents. For uploading the documents, click on “Upload” and select the flies.
7. Then, the documents you have uploaded can be seen in the Uploaded documents.
8. These uploaded documents can be accessed anytime by signing in your Digital Locker account. These documents can be edited, shared and downloaded.
9. Documents can be shared with following steps: Click on “Share”; Enter the e-mail ID in the pop-up which opens; Click on send button and the document will be shared with the e-mail ID.
10. Issued documents can be viewed by clicking on “Issued documents”
11. In order to view, the activities performed by the user, open the Digital Locker account and click on “Activity”.
12. By clicking on “Issuers”, one can know about the registered issuers who are part of Digital Locker System.
Benefits of Digi Locker system
The technology component of Digi Locker system are as follows[ii] :
1. Repository– Collection of e-documents that is exposed via standard APIs for secure, real-time access
2. Access Gateway– Secure online mechanism for requesters to access e-documents from various repositories in real-time using URI (Uniform Resource Indicator)
3. Digi Locker Portal– Dedicated cloud based personal storage space, linked to each resident’s Aadhar for storing e-documents, or URIs of e-documents.
The platform of Digi Locker provides following advantages to the users
- It is very convenient form of sharing, downloading and using the documents as the users of Digital Locker Portal can use this anytime, anywhere.
- It saves time of the users.
- It reduces paper work of government agencies who issue the documents.
- These help to verify the authenticity of the documents.
- There is e-sign facility which helps in the self-attestation of the documents.
- Users can also check the Activities performed in the Digital Locker Account by clicking on “Activity” button.
Therefore, Digi locker is a platform through which, a person can access and share the documents. Three entities who are involved in this system are resident, issuer and requester. A person can create user ID with the help of the website “https://digilocker.gov.in/“. There are several advantages of linking the government documents with the Digi Locker. Sharing these conveniently and verifying the authenticity of the documents are the main benefits which one could get after linking these with Digi Locker.
Edited by Pragash Boopal
Approved & Published – Sakshi Raje
Reference
[i] Government of India, DigiLocker, https://digilocker.gov.in/about.html (Last visited: September 4, 2019; 11.30 A.M.)
[ii] Ibid.
