Memorandum on Certificate Name Check
A vaccine certificate has been issued with the recipient's name spelled incorrectly, and the correction process requires the original document that contains the incorrect name.
Memorandum on Certificate Name Check Incident Report: Vaccine Certificate Name Discrepancy, Correction Pathway
Incident Summary
A vaccine certificate has been issued. The certificate is official. The certificate contains the recipient's name. The name on the certificate has a transposed letter that produces a different name, one that the recipient has never used, does not respond to, and cannot produce identification for.
The certificate is otherwise accurate in all particulars.
Finding 1: The Error Source
The name on the certificate was populated from the CoWIN registration. The CoWIN registration pulled the name from the Aadhaar record. The Aadhaar record contains the name as it was entered when the card was issued, which was entered by a third party at a government enrollment center, which is where the transposition occurred.
The error is eight years old. It has been present on the Aadhaar card for eight years. The certificate has now made it visible in a new context.
Finding 2: The Correction Pathway
The correction pathway for the vaccine certificate requires the user to log in to the CoWIN portal and submit a correction request. The correction request requires supporting documentation proving the correct name. The correct name appears on the PAN card, the passport, and several utility bills.
The correction request is then reviewed against the Aadhaar record. The Aadhaar record contains the incorrect name. The correction is flagged as inconsistent with the primary identity document.
The correction requires submitting the document that contains the error as evidence that the error exists, which requires the document to acknowledge its own incorrectness, which it cannot do.
Finding 3: The Parallel Process
A separate Aadhaar name correction process exists. It requires visiting a physical enrollment center, submitting original documents, and waiting 90 days for the correction to propagate. The enrollment centers have reduced operating hours. The correction cannot be expedited.
The vaccine certificate can be corrected after the Aadhaar correction propagates. The Aadhaar correction takes 90 days. The certificate's administrative validity period is currently unknown.
The Error Is Not in Dispute
The error is not in dispute. The error is visible to everyone who looks at the document. The process for correcting it requires the same information source that produced it.
Recommendation
Begin the Aadhaar correction process. Keep the current certificate. Travel with a supporting document that has the correct name. Be prepared to explain at any checkpoint why a government-issued certificate and a government-issued ID have different names, which is a question with a clear answer that takes longer to explain than the checkpoint will allocate.
The correction is in process.