The face authentication feature will be activated on 24 April 2025, providing a one-week transition period. Institutions experiencing technical difficulties are advised to contact the AEBAS technical team before 30 April.
Published Apr 17, 2025 | 6:48 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 17, 2025 | 6:48 PM
NMC switches to face-based attendance for faculty. (Supplied)
Synopsis: To curb biometric attendance fraud, the National Medical Commission (NMC) will mandate face-based Aadhaar authentication for faculty attendance in medical colleges starting 1 May 2025. This shift replaces fingerprint systems vulnerable to manipulation, such as fake fingerprints and proxy attendance. Colleges must geofence attendance zones, appoint nodal officers, and ensure faculty install the face-authentication app by 20 April.
In 2023, the National Medical Commission (NMC) released a new set of guidelines for the establishment of medical colleges and the renewal of licenses for existing ones.
These guidelines placed stringent emphasis on infrastructure requirements — including the mandated number of hospital beds, qualified faculty across various specialties, and the implementation of Aadhaar-based biometric systems for faculty attendance.
However, several colleges reportedly bypassed the Aadhaar-based biometric system. In response, the NMC has now introduced a revised guideline mandating the adoption of face-based biometric authentication for faculty attendance, effective from 1 May 2025.
The new system, which replaces the current fingerprint-based biometric method, aims to enhance user convenience and improve the accuracy of attendance tracking. FACE-based Aadhaar authentication with UIDAI registered devices, already in use across various government departments through the National Informatics Centre (NIC), will now be extended to medical institutions via a mobile app interface.
“All medical colleges and institutions under the National Medical Commission (NMC) are currently marking attendance through the NMC AEBAS system. To leverage the latest technology and make the attendance process more user-friendly, the NMC has decided to fully transition to FACE-based Aadhaar authentication for marking attendance on the NMC AEBAS platform from 1 May 2025,” the NMC stated in its latest notification.
Medical colleges in India are mandated by the National Medical Commission (NMC) to implement the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) to ensure genuine attendance of faculty and staff, and to curb issues such as ghost faculty and proxy attendance.
Initially, attendance was recorded using fingerprint-based biometric devices. However, these systems proved vulnerable to manipulation—ranging from the use of fake fingerprints to colleagues marking attendance on behalf of others.
“Complaints have reached the NMC about some medical colleges misusing thumb impressions to manipulate biometric attendance. In light of this, the NMC has decided to shift to face-based AEBAS authentication. Cases include tampering with thumb silicon molds, using fake fingerprints, colleagues marking proxy attendance, and even manipulation of biometric devices,” a Telangana Medical Council member told South First.
In 2024, a case emerged from a medical college where an assistant professor formally raised concerns about such manipulation.
Dr Namani Sathyanarayana, Assistant Professor of Anatomy at Shri Rawatpura Sarkar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, wrote a letter to the NMC highlighting alleged violations and exploitation of the attendance system by the institution.
In his letter, Sathyanarayana alleged that the college management had appointed nearly 90 percent of its faculty purely to meet NMC requirements during surprise inspections. He claimed that these faculty members were asked to report to the college only on the day of their official joining.
“The management collects thumb impressions from faculty members on the day they join and allegedly uses them to create fake silicon fingerprints. These are then used to generate daily attendance records on the AEBAS system,” said Sathyanarayana in the letter.
According to the public notice dated 16 April 2025, issued under the authority of Dr Raghav Langer, Secretary of the National Medical Commission (NMC), all medical colleges are required to share the GPS coordinates of designated attendance zones within their campuses with the NMC by 20 April. Each of these coordinates, covering a 100-meter radius, will enable geofenced attendance marking via mobile phones.
This information must be submitted with the official signature and stamp of the college dean or principal. In addition, colleges must designate a nodal officer and ensure that all faculty members install the FACE-based Aadhaar Authentication App on their mobile phones. The application is available on both Android and iOS platforms. Installation and user manuals have been provided in the official communication.
The face authentication feature will be activated on 24 April 2025, providing a one-week transition period. Institutions experiencing technical difficulties are advised to contact the AEBAS technical team before 30 April.
The official communication further noted that, from 1 May 2025, fingerprint-based attendance devices will be discontinued. “Only face authentication—via mobile phones or wall-mounted devices—will be recognized for marking attendance under the NMC AEBAS system.”
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
