NMC implements Face-Based Aadhaar Attendance in Medical Colleges
National Medical Commission (NMC)
New Delhi: In a move to streamline faculty attendance and leverage biometric technology, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has announced that all medical colleges and institutions will transition to a face-based Aadhaar authentication system via the NMC AEBAS platform from May 1, 2025. At present, all private/ government medical colleges in the country are marking attendance of faculty and staff through the AEBAS (Aadhar Enabled Biometric Attendance System) system.
The new system, replacing the current fingerprint-based biometric authentication, aims to improve user-friendliness and enhance accuracy in attendance marking. FACE-based Aadhaar Authentication, already deployed in other government offices through NIC, will now be implemented across medical institutions using a mobile app-based interface.
“All Medical Colleges/ Institutions under the National Medical Commission (NMC) are presently marking attendance through the NMC AEBAS system. To leverage the latest technology and to make the attendance process user-friendly, NMC has decided to fully shift to FACE-based Aadhaar authentication for marking attendance on NMC AEBAS from 01 st May 2025. The FACE-based Aadhaar authentication with UIDAI RD is currently in use in various Government Offices through NIC,” the NMC notice stated.
According to the public notice dated April 16, 2025 issued under the authority of Dr. Raghav Langer, NMC Secretary, medical colleges are required to share GPS coordinates of specific attendance zones within their campus with NMC by April 20. These coordinates, covering a 100-meter radius each, will enable geofenced attendance marking via mobile phones. The information must be submitted with the official signature and stamp of the college dean or principal.
Colleges must also designate a nodal officer and ensure that all faculty members install the FACE-based Aadhaar Authentication App (mobile phone-based) on their mobile phones. The application is available on Android and iOS platforms, and installation/user manuals are provided in the official communication attached below.
The face authentication feature will be activated on April 24, 2025, allowing a one-week transition window. Institutions facing technical difficulties are encouraged to contact the AEBAS technical team before April 30. From May 1 onwards, fingerprint-based devices will be disabled, and only face authentication through mobile or wall-mounted devices will be recognised for attendance.
Steps for Medical Colleges:
The medical colleges need to submit the latitude and longitude coordinates covering the entire campus area, ensuring each point covers a 100-meter radius for full coverage, in the format specified in the notification. Multiple entries can be provided for a single college if needed.
"It is requested that each college provide the latitude and longitude coordinates covering the entire campus area. Please ensure that the coordinates are provided for multiple points within the campus such that each point covers a radius of 100 meters, thereby ensuring full coverage of the premises," the notice added.
FACE based Aadhaar authentication:
AEBAS team has created software for FACE based Aadhaar authentication with UIDAI RD for attendance marking through Face Recognition. For face authentication, picture from the repository of CIDR of UIDAI would be used. In this process face biometric would be used in place of Fingerprint/Iris of the individual. The application would work similarly as earlier with the only difference that individual’s face would be used.
Earlier, the attendance marking was facilitated through Biometric i.e. Fingerprint or Iris. The process for attendance marking would remain the same, where in the user would input his/her attendance ID and would be prompted to show the face. On successful attendance marking, the display would show attendance opening and/or attendance closing for that particular employee.
The installation process involves downloading and installing both the Aadhaar Face RD APP and the AadhaarBAS App from the respective app stores. Users need to ensure that the latest versions of these apps are installed.
The process for marking attendance through the personal device involves:
- Opening the FACE BAS APP.
- Selecting the Domain NMC&NCH.
- Enter the 8-digit attendance ID and clicking Submit.
- Choosing the Entry point.
- Ensure "Scan Biometric" is clicked and authentication is completed by showing the face.
- On successful marking, the display will show attendance opening and/or closing.
The app also includes features for:
- Updating the geo-fencing policy.
- Setting notifications for attendance marking times.
- Viewing attendance logs, which display the last 20 transactions with details like Attendance ID, date, time, UIDAI response code, and status.
