Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)

What is the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission?

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is a Central Sector scheme of the Government of India, implemented by the National Health Authority under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. ABDM was launched nationwide on 27 September 2021 to build the digital backbone of India's health system, in the same way UPI became the backbone of digital payments.

According to the Press Information Bureau factsheet on the mission, ABDM is a Central Sector scheme with an outlay of Rs 1,600 crore over five years, from 2021-22 to 2025-26. The purpose is not to pay money to citizens but to make health records portable, so that a person's prescriptions, lab reports and discharge summaries follow them from one hospital to the next.

Key objectives

• Give every citizen a unique, free digital health identity.
• Create verified national registries of doctors and health facilities.
• Enable consent-based exchange of health records between providers.
• Reduce the need to carry physical files, X-ray envelopes and old prescriptions.

Main features

• 100% funded by the Government of India as a Central Sector scheme.
• Participation is entirely voluntary - no citizen is required to enrol.
• Records move only with explicit, revocable patient consent.
• Interoperable by design, so private apps and hospital systems can plug in.

What are the building blocks of ABDM?

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is made up of four core registries and interfaces, described on the ABDM portal:

• Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) - a unique 14-digit number that acts as your health identity and the key to which all your records are linked.
• ABHA address - a handle in the form yourname@abdm used to send and receive health records, distinct from the 14-digit number.
• Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) - a verified national directory of doctors, nurses, allied professionals and practitioners of all recognised systems of medicine.
• Health Facility Registry (HFR) - a directory of hospitals, clinics, diagnostic laboratories and pharmacies, both public and private.
• Unified Health Interface (UHI) - an open network that lets any compliant application offer services such as teleconsultation and appointment booking.

The mission also runs the Scan and Share service, where a patient scans a QR code at a hospital's registration desk and shares their ABHA profile to generate an OPD token without standing in the queue, and the Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS), which pays financial incentives to health facilities and digital solution companies for adopting ABDM standards.

How large is ABDM today?

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission crossed the milestone of 90 crore ABHA accounts in May 2026 and, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare figures reported in July 2026, has since passed 93.95 crore ABHA numbers. Cumulative ABHA creation has climbed year on year to 14.7 crore in 2021, 30.4 crore in 2022, 50.6 crore in 2023, 72.2 crore in 2024 and 84.5 crore in 2025 — before crossing 90 crore in 2026. Alongside the identities, the platform has linked over 105 crore health records and registered 5.33 lakh health facilities on the Health Facility Registry and 9.85 lakh healthcare professionals on the Healthcare Professionals Registry. An earlier PIB update dated 6 February 2025 had recorded 73,98,09,607 ABHAs, showing how sharply the base has grown. The pace of record linking, rather than ABHA creation alone, is the measure the National Health Authority now emphasises, because a health identity delivers value only once real documents sit behind it.

Who is eligible for an ABHA number under ABDM?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of India - there is no income, caste or occupation test.
• You are of any age. A parent or guardian can create an ABHA for a child using the guardian's own mobile number and identity.
• You hold either an Aadhaar number or a driving licence for identity verification.
• You have access to a mobile number to receive the one-time password.

There is no beneficiary list, no BPL requirement and no SECC database check. ABHA is open to every citizen, which is the main difference between ABDM and PM-JAY.

You cannot apply if:

• You have no accepted identity document - the self-service portal supports Aadhaar and driving licence only, so a person holding neither cannot complete online creation and must seek assisted registration at a participating health facility.
• You have no mobile number at all and no family member's number you can use for OTP delivery, since mobile verification is a compulsory step.
• You already hold an ABHA number - duplicate accounts are not permitted, and the portal will surface the existing account instead of creating a second one.

Note that ABDM registration is not eligible for any cash payment, subsidy or free treatment on its own. Citizens looking for free hospitalisation cover should apply separately under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY.

What documents are required for an ABHA number?

At least one of Aadhaar or driving licence must be provided. No income certificate, ration card, caste certificate or medical record is needed.

How to apply for an ABHA number online

1. Go to the official ABHA portal at abha.abdm.gov.in or download the ABHA mobile application.
2. Select Create ABHA number and choose your verification route - Aadhaar or driving licence.
3. Enter the Aadhaar number (or driving licence number) and tick the consent declaration allowing the National Health Authority to verify your identity.
4. Enter the OTP sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile number. If your mobile is not linked to Aadhaar, enter an alternative mobile number when prompted and verify that with a second OTP.
5. Complete the profile - name, date of birth, gender and address are pre-filled from Aadhaar where that route is used.
6. Create your ABHA address in the form yourname@abdm. Choose something you will remember; this is the handle you share with hospitals.
7. Download the ABHA card as a PDF from the dashboard, or save it in the ABHA mobile application.

How to apply for an ABHA number offline

1. Visit any government hospital, health and wellness centre, community health centre or ABDM-participating private facility.
2. Ask the registration counter or the facility's ABDM helpdesk to create an ABHA for you.
3. Provide your Aadhaar number or driving licence and complete biometric or OTP verification at the counter.
4. Collect the printed ABHA card or note down the 14-digit number and ABHA address issued to you.

Assisted creation is the route to use if your mobile number is not linked to Aadhaar, since staff can complete biometric authentication on your behalf.

How to link your health records to ABHA

1. Log in to the ABHA mobile application or the personal health record portal at phr.abdm.gov.in using your ABHA number or address and an OTP.
2. Search for the hospital or laboratory where you were treated - only ABDM-linked facilities will appear.
3. Send a link request; the facility's system matches your records against your ABHA and returns the available documents.
4. Approve the consent request. Records then appear in your locker and can be shared with any doctor for a defined period.

Records are never pulled automatically. Every transfer, in either direction, needs a consent artefact that you can revoke at any time from the app.

What are the benefits of having an ABHA number?

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission gives citizens four practical benefits:

• No paper files. Prescriptions, discharge summaries, lab reports and imaging reports are stored digitally and retrieved on a phone.
• Faster OPD registration. The Scan and Share facility generates an OPD token from a QR code, removing the manual form-filling step at the counter.
• Continuity of care. A specialist in a new city can see your history the same day, with your consent, instead of restarting diagnostics.
• Verified provider information. The Healthcare Professionals Registry lets patients confirm that a practitioner is registered with a recognised council.

There is no cash benefit, subsidy or free treatment attached to an ABHA number itself.

Common problems while creating an ABHA number

• Mobile number not linked to Aadhaar - use the alternative mobile number option, or complete biometric creation at a health facility.
• ABHA address already taken - addresses are unique across the country; add a numeral or use a different handle.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar and existing hospital records - records will not auto-match; link them manually through the facility search.
• Duplicate ABHA created earlier - use the "Login with Aadhaar" option to recover the existing account rather than creating a new one.

Help and grievance redressal

• ABDM helpline: 1800-11-4477 or 14477
• Official portals: abdm.gov.in for the mission, abha.abdm.gov.in for account creation, phr.abdm.gov.in for the personal health record locker
• Grievance route: the "Raise a query" section on the ABDM portal, or the National Health Authority through nha.gov.in

Creating an ABHA number is free. No agent, cyber cafe or hospital staff member should charge you for it, and no genuine ABDM process will ever ask you to share your OTP with another person.