MUMBAI, Sept. 10 -- Neelkanth Mishra, chairperson (part time) of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), on Wednesday said the scale of Aadhaar usage had expanded significantly, with the country now recording around 100 million authentications every day. He also highlighted the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) for fraud detection as Aadhaar-based digital services expand and fraudsters become increasingly sophisticated. Mishra was speaking at a session titled 'Digital Identity & Beyond' at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 at the Jio Convention Centre in BKC. "We are now doing 100 million authentications a day," he said. "Since the number is expanding every day, we are in the process of prepping the system to handle 250 million to 300 million authentications daily." Mishra said that over 600 entities were now using Aadhaar, reflecting the growing adoption of the digital identity infrastructure. "Its use is extending beyond authentication and payments, with digital public infrastructure enabling new forms of financial and economic activity, including the mobilisation of risk capital, telecom customer enrolment and the onboarding of gig workers," he said. "This would not have been possible without the digital public infrastructure we have built." On the increasing use of AI to detect fraud, Mishra said the technology was being deployed extensively as Aadhaar-based digital services expanded. "The fraudsters keep getting smarter, but we are also getting smarter," he quipped. Mishra underscored the importance of trust in enabling large-scale collaboration and improving economic efficiency. "Aadhaar has made it possible to establish trust remotely and at a low cost, helping enable greater participation and collaboration across the economy," he said. "For an economy to become more efficient, collaboration is essential, and collaboration at scale requires trust. A significant part of that trust comes from establishing proof of identity. The trust is now translating into a number of important transformations."...