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Can you give a hotel a masked Aadhaar? Yes.

A masked Aadhaar is still your Aadhaar: it shows your name, photo, address and date of birth, and hides all but the last four digits of the number. UIDAI offers it for download on myAadhaar, and a hotel can accept Aadhaar but can't insist on it (the details, with sources, are below).

Hotels ask for an ID copy at check-in, and most guests hand over a full Aadhaar photocopy that then sits in a drawer or a WhatsApp group. This makes a copy that shows only the last four digits, carries the words “For hotel check-in only” across every page, and stays under the size a booking app accepts. Your Aadhaar never leaves this browser.

Updated 28 September 2026

2. If it's locked: an e-Aadhaar's password is the first 4 letters of your name in capitals and your birth year, like SURE1990. Type them here and we'll make it.

Runs in your browser. Your files are never uploaded.

Your safe copy appears here, with a preview.

Several files, or a whole form? Tell Sochen “Mask my Aadhaar, stamp it for the rent agreement and keep it under 200 KB” and it does every step, checks each against the notification, and still keeps your files on your device.

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What UIDAI says about giving a hotel your Aadhaar

In May 2022 UIDAI warned people “not to share photocopy of one's Aadhaar with any organizations because it can be misused”, and said that instead “a masked Aadhaar which displays only the last 4 digits of your Aadhaar number can be used for the purpose.” The same release said unlicensed private entities “like hotels or film halls are not permitted to collect or keep copies of Aadhaar card.”

Two days later the Ministry of Electronics and IT withdrew that release, saying it could be misread, and advised Aadhaar holders “to exercise normal prudence in using and sharing their UIDAI Aadhaar numbers.” So there is no blanket ban to point a receptionist to. What stands is the advice itself: a masked copy is the prudent thing to hand over, and UIDAI still offers it as a download on myAadhaar.

UIDAI's current answer for hotels is offline verification: it lists “Hospitality and Tourism” first among the uses for Offline Verification Seeking Entities, which check the QR code on your Aadhaar without a photocopy at all. The secure QR code carries your name, photo and address, digitally signed by UIDAI, so a hotel that scans it with the mAadhaar app gets a verified identity and you hand over nothing to file.

What a hotel can and can't ask for

  • An ID, yes. Hotels record a guest's ID, and for foreign guests must report passport details to the police on Form C. Neither names Aadhaar; a passport, voter ID or driving licence serves.
  • Aadhaar specifically, no. The Aadhaar Act says mandatory authentication for a service needs a law made by Parliament (section 4(7)), and a service can't be refused for declining to authenticate (section 4(6)). A hotel can accept Aadhaar; it can't insist on it.
  • A masked copy is still Aadhaar. Your name, photo, address and date of birth are all on it; only eight digits of the number are hidden. That's what a check-in needs, and nothing more.
  • Publishing the number is an offence. Section 29(4) bars publishing or displaying an Aadhaar number, and section 37 punishes disclosing identity information to an unauthorised person. A stamp saying what the copy is for makes a leaked copy easy to trace and hard to reuse.

How to make it

  1. Drop in your e-Aadhaar PDF from UIDAI or DigiLocker, or a photo of the card. If it's locked, type your name and birth year and the tool works out the password (the first four letters of your name in capitals and the year, like SURE1990).
  2. Leave “Hide the first 8 digits” on. The tool finds every Aadhaar number printed on the page and covers all but the last four digits.
  3. The stamp is filled in as “For hotel check-in only”. Change it to include the hotel's name and the date if you like; it's printed across every page.
  4. Keep the 200 KB limit if you'll upload it to a booking app; choose “No limit” for a print-out.
  5. Download, and check the preview: only the last four digits of the number should be readable.

Questions

Is a masked Aadhaar valid as ID?+

UIDAI itself offers the masked version for download from myAadhaar and, in its 2022 advice, told people to use it in place of a full photocopy. It shows your name, photo, address and date of birth; only the first eight digits of the number are hidden.

Source: UIDAI via PIB, 27 May 2022: “UIDAI cautions of sharing photocopy of Aadhaar”.

The hotel says the number must be visible. What do I do?+

Offer the QR code instead: UIDAI's mAadhaar app verifies it on the spot, and that's the method UIDAI lists for hospitality. If they still insist, offer a different ID. Under the Aadhaar Act a private business can't make Aadhaar a condition of service.

Can I put the hotel's name in the stamp?+

Yes. Edit the watermark before you make the copy, for example “For Hotel Ashoka check-in, 3 Oct 2026 only”. Up to 80 characters.

Does the copy leave my device?+

No. The PDF is opened, masked, stamped and rebuilt in your browser. Nothing is sent to Sochen, and there's no account.

Why is the text no longer selectable in the copy?+

The pages are redrawn as images so the masked digits are really gone, not just covered by a box that can be removed. That's also why the file stays small.

Sources, checked 28 September 2026: UIDAI via PIB, 27 May 2022: “UIDAI cautions of sharing photocopy of Aadhaar”; MeitY via PIB, 29 May 2022: clarification withdrawing that release; UIDAI, Offline Verification Seeking Entities (hospitality is use case 1); UIDAI, the secure QR code on Aadhaar; The Aadhaar Act, 2016, as amended (sections 4, 29, 37); myAadhaar: download a masked e-Aadhaar. Rules change, so check the portal's own instructions before you submit.

This is practical guidance, not legal advice. For your rights over your Aadhaar data, read the Act via UIDAI's site.