UIDAI introduces ‘Udai’, a new mascot to help navigate Aadhaar services

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Thursday launched the Aadhaar mascot “Udai,” which is said to “simplify public understanding of the Aadhaar services.” Udai is said to simplify the technical aspects of Aadhaar, such as biometric updates, authentication, new security features, responsible usage and more in a humanly way possible.

UIDAI said, “The UIDAI today launched the Aadhaar mascot, a new resident-facing communication companion to simplify public understanding of Aadhaar services. The Aadhaar mascot named Udai will help make Aadhaar-related information more relatable and people-friendly.” The Udai platform was unveiled by UIDAI Chairman Neelkanth Mishra at a function in Thiruvananthapuram. He announced that Udai will make Aadhaar communication simpler and that it is built with people’s interests.

To make Aadhar services accessible and more understandable for the citizens of India, UIDAI launched national design and name competitions on the MyGov platform. This invited citizens to submit their ideas and opinions about designs. The website had reportedly received 875 entries across professions like students, professionals, and designers. After a thorough review, the new Udai platform was co-created with the public's ideas and careful official oversight.

In recent years, Aadhaar has become more than just an identity verification, as its role has become more central to India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI), becoming a unified identification for financial inclusion, governance, and secure digital transactions.

By introducing Udai, UIDAI is signalling a shift towards more accessible public outreach, using visual storytelling to explain how Aadhaar works and how it should be used safely. The mascot is expected to play a key role in future awareness initiatives linked to Digital India and digital identity education.