The citizen journey

Five citizens, one identity. Each section names the screens to click and the tier of assurance it needs.

1 · Aanya, on her own phone

Aanya opens the Labour Services portal. The only visible action is Sign in with the Pehchaan Chakra; the portal's own UAN-and-password form waits under “Other ways to sign in”. She enters her mobile number, the code 123456, sees exactly which fields the portal will read and why, confirms her UAN ending 4321 with the OTP she already uses there, and lands back on the portal with the claim form already filled. Tier: अनुमानAnumaan.

2 · The same Aanya, on the next service

Later she opens Income Tax e-Filing. Her hub session is still alive, so there is no second code: only the consent screen for what this service may read, and she is in. On the Grievance portal the same happens. Every one of these sign-ins appears on Who has access, where she can end any of them.

3 · Ramesh at the Jan Seva Kendra, and Aanya's son at home

Neither should ever ask for Aanya's OTP. On Help someone the helper enters her number, the purpose (“File EPFO Form 19”) and a window (two hours). Aanya's phone shows who is asking and for what; she taps the number that matches. The helper's portal view now carries an orange “acting for Aanya Sharma until 17:00” banner, and the permission — with its use count — sits on Who has access until she revokes it or it expires. Tier: the helper must be अधिकृतAdhikrit (registered operator) or a family member Aanya has approved before.

4 · Cancelling a claim — something that must not be easy to fake

Cancel claim needs प्रत्यक्षPratyaksh. The portal says “check your phone — tap 47”; the phone shows the exact action, service and amount — what you see is what you sign — and three numbers. There is never an “Approve” button to tap by reflex.

5 · On a weak connection

The authenticator is a small installable app. When the network drops, it still shows a six-digit code from the clock; Aanya types it under “Use a code instead” on the sign-in page. If the Meri Pehchaan hub itself is busy, every portal shows its own login again and any session already open keeps working — a service is never less available than it was before it joined.

For departments: joining the movement

Adoption comes in three tiers, matched to how each portal is run:

• Native — modern stacks (Drupal/.NET/Java) add the button and an OpenID Connect callback; a week of work.
• Broker — SAML-era portals federate through a broker; the button appears, the legacy session stays.
• Sidecar — very high-burst services (railway booking, exam results) keep their own login and use Meri Pehchaan for account recovery and identity proofing only, never on the booking path.

The integration kit — button markup, discovery document, sandbox with fault injection and the conformance badge — is the developer half of this concept; the sign-in you just walked is the citizen half.