Lost your Aadhaar card? Here's step-by-step guide to recover it

Aadhaar card is one of the most important identification documents in India. Aadhaar card is not only required for government schemes but for financial services as well. It is also linked with bank accounts, vehicles and insurance policies etc. Aadhaar card contains the details of the person's name, date of birth, gender, address and photograph. 

That is why we need to carry the Aadhaar card with us. But, what happens if we lose it? Here we will tell you how to retrieve the lost Aadhaar card. The Aadhaar issuing authority, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has given a simple step-by-step guide that anyone can follow.

Step 1: Go to the official UIDAI website uidai.gov.in and log in

Step 2: Click on the tab 'My Aadhaar' in the drop-down menu, under the 'Aadhaar Services' section.

Step 3: Out of the two options that come next, choose 'Retrieve Lost or Forgotten EID/UID' option

Step 4: You will again see two options - One is to retrieve 'Adhaar No (UID)' and the other is to retrieve 'Enrolment ID (EID)'. Choose one.

Step 5:  Fill in all the relevant information for your Aadhaar

Step 6: Fill in the Captcha information for verification and click on 'Send OTP'

Step 7: Insert OTP and enter and verify yourself once more

Step 8: Simply use the information you get and download your e-Aadhaar copy from the UIDAI website.

But what does one do if he or she has lost the Aadhaar Enrolment ID (EID)?

An online facility provided by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI enables users to retrieve their lost Enrolment ID (EID). An EID is a unique identification number issued to an Aadhaar enrollee at the time of registration. This number is used to track an Aadhaar application. Users can retrieve a lost EID or Aadhaar number online, either through the UIDAI website — uidai.gov.in — or mobile app mAadhaar.