In 2020, the ECI issued SOPs for the removal of duplicate EPIC numbers through multiple communications.

In October 2020, the Election Commission of India (ECI) informed all its CEOs via a letter the process to be followed on ERO-Net to remove duplicate EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Card) numbers. The letter stated, “in cases of multiple electors with the same EPIC number, the EPIC number issued to the first elector shall be retained and all other electors will be given fresh EPIC with new EPIC numbers.” But even four years after the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was issued by the ECI, duplicate EPIC numbers still exist.

The letter stated, “in cases where EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) are not able to ascertain the allotment date of EPIC numbers, EPIC of younger voter(s) shall be changed and they will be assigned a new EPIC number. On their new EPIC, the old EPIC number shall also be printed for tracking and convenience of electors, as the Id EPIC number might have been used for some services by them.” The letter also makes reference to multiple internal letters issued by the ECI, which means that the Commission had been holding discussions on removing duplicate EPIC numbers.

“Mistakes are not unexpected. But it appears to be a systematic, deliberate attempt to interfere with electoral rolls, which is dangerous for democracy. It is not clear as to what is the source of this action, it could even be in the political establishment, but the onus of preventing it lies with the Election Commission. The EC tries to put the onus on citizens but the EC should do it,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, founder of the Association for Democratic Reform.

The EPIC number or the Voter ID card number hit the headlines when West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a press conference revealing duplicate EPIC numbers issued by the ECI to two or more registered voters. She alleged, “I have examples from all districts. Here it is. Names of people from Haryana and Gujarat are with names of Bengal residents and with the same EPIC card. Fake voters are being added online.”

On this, the ECI issued a release admitting the existence of duplicate EPIC and emphasised “that while EPIC numbers of some of the electors may be identical, the other details including demographic details, Assembly Constituency and polling booth are different for the electors with the same EPIC number. Irrespective of the EPIC number, any elector can cast a vote only at their respective Constituency in their State/UT.”

But the ECI’s explanation seems to be misleading. To know how, we must first understand how EPIC numbers are derived by the ECI. As per the ECI website,

• An EPIC number has to be a unique ten-digit alphanumeric code for each elector.
• The first three digits are the alphabetical codes called FUSN (Functional Unique Serial Number).
• FUSN provided by the ECI is unique for every assembly constituency (parliamentary constituency in the case of UTs). This means the alphabetical codes of two different assembly constituencies cannot be the same.
• The FUSN is followed by numerical digits – six serial numbers and one digit of checksum.

Logically speaking, if the FUSN is unique to every assembly constituency, then the ECI issuing a statement saying that voters of different states with ‘identical’ EPIC number can cast their vote in their respective constituencies cannot be true. Voters of two different assembly constituencies should not have an identical EPIC number or voter ID number in the first place.

History of EPIC numbers

Let’s get into the history of EPIC to understand how the ECI had been juggling the issue for decades and still hasn’t been able to resolve it, although now it promises to erase duplicate EPIC numbers by the end of May 2025.

As per the ECI’s press notes and letters available on their website, the ECI had started the scheme of EPICs in 1993 for the purpose of correct identification and “to prevent impersonation at the time of polls” under the Rule 28 of Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. In September 2008, the Commission circulated a letter to state/UT CEOs, making the production of EPIC compulsory for those electors who already possessed an EPIC number. Considering that the problem of duplicate EPIC number existed in 2008, the ECI’s letter also stated, ‘‘Wherever an EPIC is required to be replaced because two or more persons have been issued EPIC bearing the same number then there is no alternative but to issue new card with new EPIC numbers to all except one of them who is allowed to retain.”

In 2004, the ECI took another decision to print Photo Electoral Rolls (PERs). The all-India coverage of EPICs was approximately 82% and PERs or photo images in the Electoral Rolls was approximately 77%, as mentioned in a press note released in April 2010 by the ECI. The Commission instructed the CEOs of all states/UTs to achieve 100% EPIC coverage and photo coverage in electoral rolls by the end of 2010.

Non-standard to standard EPIC number

In November 2019, after the Lok Sabha elections, the Commission issued a protocol for changing non-standard EPIC number to standard 10-digit EPIC number or alphanumeric codes. The task of converting non-standard to standard EPIC was entrusted to the Commission’s IT team. It was the responsibility of the chief electoral officers to make explicit requests to the IT team for conversion of the EPIC number. Considering that the new standard EPIC number was generated through ERO-Net at the backend, the ECI instructed CEOs to ensure that the concerned elector is duly informed about his/her new EPIC number manually, as it might be difficult for the elector to search it on the ECI’s website.

“The responsibility lies on the CEO of the State/UT concerned for timely printing and distribution of new EPIC to electors, so that electors/political parties are aware about the change in the EPIC numbers. There will not be any message sent from the server end to the electors in this regard,” said the ECI in a letter sent to CEOs of all states/UTs.

In 2020, the ECI issued SOPs for the removal of duplicate EPIC numbers through multiple communications.

After the Trinamool Congress raised the issue, now the ECI, in its March 7, 2025 press release, has promised to resolve the duplicate EPIC numbers matter within next three months – though this is something they have been trying to resolve since 2020. In the release, it also mentioned that “irrespective of an EPIC number, an elector who is linked to the electoral roll of a particular polling station can cast his vote at the polling station only and nowhere else”. In other words, voters can cast a vote without the EPIC number but he/she must have his/her name in the electoral roll.

The Commission had been trying to implement the EPIC number scheme since 1993 to prevent impersonation of the voters. But it seems that the scheme has created more confusion than comfort for genuine voters.