This case study is part of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose’s (UCL IIPP) publication series.
Explore more working papers, case studies and policy reports here.
The DigiLocker Story: How India is digitising its documents | UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) | Case Study No.4
Authors:
- Ritul Gaur | Policy Advisor | Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL)
- David Eaves | Associate Professor and Deputy Director | UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
Case Summary:
Location and time period
2015-2025
New Delhi, India
The policy problem
Indian citizens faced the persistent challenge of acting as “couriers” between government departments, carrying physical documents across offices for verification and processing. This burden was compounded by requirements for document attestation, multiple physical copies, and in-person submissions that created inefficiencies in citizen-government interactions. The prevalence of document forgery and fake certificates further undermined trust in the system, creating verification challenges for both government departments and private organisations. In 2015, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) supported a new digital public infrastructure (DPI) solution to this document management challenge by leveraging the India Stack and the digital ID system Aadhaar. But in a country as large and diverse as India, with wide variations in literacy, technology use, and administrative capacity, a central question emerged: how to build a digital wallet that could give every citizen secure, round-the-clock access to their original documents. Turning that vision into reality would depend not only on technology but also on how institutions, policies, and people worked together.
Main topics/themes in this case
- Digital Wallets and Verifiable Credentials
- Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
- Data Sharing
- Intergovernmental Adoption
- Use Case Identification
Read this case if you…
- Want to explore practical approaches and trade-offs involved in building and scaling digital wallets.
- Aim to learn effective mechanisms for secure data sharing and leveraging personal documents for individual benefit.
- Seek strategies for prioritising impactful use cases to accelerate the adoption of DPI.
- Are interested in navigating the complexities of developing and implementing DPI within federal governance structures.
- Would like to explore alternative ways of measuring impact and value.
Reference:
This case study can be referenced as follows: Gaur, R., and Eaves, D. (2025). The DigiLocker Story: How India is digitising its documents. Case Study No.4.
Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/publications/2025/oct/digilocker-story-how-india-digitising-its-documents
This case study is part of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose’s (UCL IIPP) publication series.
Explore more working papers, case studies and policy reports here.