Ayushman Card Rejected? How to Fix It in 2026

Reviewed on: 2026-06-19.

Rejections are not all the same. The portal at beneficiary.nha.gov.in runs your details against a beneficiary database and either confirms eligibility or returns a not-found result. Before you try to fix anything, identify which of these four reasons applies to you, because each requires a different remedy.

1. Your family is not in the eligible beneficiary database

PM-JAY eligibility is based primarily on the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 deprivation data for rural households and occupational categories for urban households. If your family did not qualify under those categories in 2011, you will not be found in the central database. States may also maintain an expanded beneficiary list beyond the SECC data, so the same family that is absent from the NHA database may still be eligible under a state scheme running on the same Ayushman platform.

Additionally, from 2024 onwards, all citizens aged 70 years and above qualify for a separate Ayushman Vay Vandana Card regardless of income or SECC status. If the rejection involves a senior of 70 or above, this is a distinct track described separately below.

What to do: check your eligibility again at beneficiary.nha.gov.in using your mobile number, Aadhaar, or ration card number. If the portal still shows “not eligible,” visit your nearest Common Service Centre (CSC) or Ayushman Mitra at an empanelled hospital. They have access to the state list and can confirm whether your family is covered under a state-expanded programme. Do not pay anyone a fee to “enrol” you. There is no enrolment fee for PM-JAY. Demand received by any agent is a fraud signal.

2. Name or Aadhaar details do not match the beneficiary record

Even when your family is in the database, a mismatch between the name or date of birth on your Aadhaar card and the corresponding entry in the SECC or state beneficiary data causes the system to fail eKYC. Common sources of this mismatch: your name was recorded differently in the 2011 census, you recently updated your Aadhaar, or there is a spelling variation across documents.

What to do: visit the Ayushman Mitra at any empanelled government or private hospital. They can view the beneficiary record and attempt a biometric-based eKYC or OTP-based verification rather than a name-match. If the mismatch is in the Aadhaar record itself, you may need to first correct your Aadhaar at a UIDAI Aadhaar Seva Kendra. See Aadhaar status and correction guide for that process before returning to the Ayushman application.

3. Family ID or household data is wrong

The PM-JAY system assigns a Family ID to each beneficiary household. If the head of the family has changed, members have migrated, the family has split into sub-households, or your ration card number was incorrectly entered in the original data, the portal may reject your card even though you are otherwise eligible.

What to do: approach the District Implementation Unit (DIU) or your State Health Agency (SHA) office. Bring your ration card, Aadhaar, and any document that connects you to the original beneficiary household. The SHA can correct family composition errors in the state beneficiary management system. You may also use the grievance portal at cgrms.nha.gov.in to raise a formal data-correction complaint. For ration card related household data issues, also see ration card status and correction.

4. Technical KYC or OTP failure during card generation

Sometimes a rejection is not about eligibility at all. The eKYC step can fail due to a biometric error, a network timeout, an OTP not reaching the registered mobile number, or an Aadhaar mobile link issue. The system records this as a failed transaction and does not generate the card.

What to do: retry the eKYC at any Ayushman Mitra point or CSC after ensuring your Aadhaar-linked mobile number is active and accessible. If biometric authentication is the problem, the Mitra can attempt face-authentication or OTP-based verification as a fallback. There is no charge for re-attempts.

All senior citizens aged 70 years and above are entitled to the Ayushman Vay Vandana Card, a separate track under PM-JAY that does not depend on SECC data or income status. If a senior has been rejected simply because the family is not in the SECC database, this rejection is wrong. Call the dedicated missed-call helpline at 1800110770 to receive Vay Vandana Card details, or visit the nearest empanelled hospital Ayushman Mitra with proof of age (Aadhaar showing date of birth or a government-issued age certificate).

1. Check eligibility at beneficiary.nha.gov.in using your mobile number linked to Aadhaar, your Aadhaar number, or your ration card number.
2. If not found, call the toll-free helpline 14555 (available all days) to confirm whether the issue is a data mismatch, a missing family entry, or a state-specific eligibility question.
3. Visit the Ayushman Mitra at the nearest empanelled hospital or CSC for in-person eKYC. Bring your Aadhaar, ration card, and any other ID.
4. If the Mitra confirms you should be eligible but the system still rejects you, raise a formal complaint at cgrms.nha.gov.in. The NHA commits to resolving grievances within 30 days through District, State, and National level Grievance Redressal Committees.
5. If the state-level grievance is not resolved, escalate to the District Grievance Nodal Officer (DGNO) whose contact is available through your SHA.

A valid Ayushman Bharat card gives the cardholder and their family a cashless health cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per year for hospitalisation and specified day-care treatments at any empanelled public or private hospital across India. There is no premium payment by the beneficiary. The card is portable: it can be used in any state, not just the state of residence.

The card does not cover outpatient consultations, medicines purchased outside a hospitalisation, or conditions excluded under the scheme's benefit package. Rejection of a specific treatment claim at a hospital is a separate matter from rejection of the card itself and requires a separate grievance through the hospital's Ayushman Mitra.

Eligibility under PM-JAY is based on inclusion in the SECC 2011 beneficiary database or the state-expanded list, not on current income or poverty status alone. A family that was not surveyed or did not qualify under the 2011 deprivation criteria will not appear, even if they are economically vulnerable today. Check whether your state has an expanded list by calling 14555 or visiting the SHA office.

New members such as a newborn or a newly married spouse can generally be added through the state beneficiary management portal or at a CSC. The process and documentation vary by state. The Ayushman Mitra at any empanelled hospital can guide you to the correct state process. This is not managed centrally by NHA for all states.

A persistent KYC failure is usually a biometric-quality issue or an Aadhaar-mobile link problem. Visit a UIDAI Aadhaar Seva Kendra to ensure your fingerprints are updated and your mobile number is linked. Then retry eKYC at an Ayushman Mitra point. Face-authentication is often more reliable than fingerprint for older applicants.

Yes, almost certainly. PM-JAY charges no enrolment fee to beneficiaries. The NHA explicitly warns that any portal or agent demanding money for enrolment is fraudulent. Report it to the 14555 helpline and to the local police.

The NHA Grievance Redressal Committee is required to address complaints within 30 days at the district, state, or national level. File at cgrms.nha.gov.in and note the complaint number for follow-up.

If your family's beneficiary entry is linked to a ration card number and that number has errors, it can cause a family ID mismatch. First, see ration card status and correction to fix the ration card record, then retry your Ayushman eligibility check.

They are separate tracks. The Vay Vandana Card is specifically for citizens aged 70 and above and does not depend on SECC data. The regular Ayushman card for the rest of the family still requires SECC or state-list inclusion. Both provide the same Rs 5 lakh annual cover and are used at the same empanelled hospitals.

Several states run their own health assurance schemes that are integrated with or run alongside PM-JAY on the Ayushman platform. In some states, state-scheme beneficiaries also receive an Ayushman card. The eligibility criteria differ by state. Call 14555 or visit the SHA office to find out whether the state scheme covers your family even if the central PM-JAY list does not.

If you are checking on other government benefits at the same time, these pages may help:

• Aadhaar status and correction - fix the mismatch that is blocking eKYC
• Ration card status - correct family ID data linked to your ration card
• eShram card status - another identity-linked labour welfare card

File an RTI to: the State Health Agency (SHA) under PM-JAY / National Health Authority

Use RTI to ask:

• What is the specific reason my family's application was rejected or returned as not eligible?
• Is my family's name present in the state beneficiary list for PM-JAY, and if not, on what basis was it excluded?
• What grievance was filed under complaint number [your CGRMS reference], and what action was taken?
• What is the name and contact of the District Grievance Nodal Officer for my district?
• Has my state expanded the beneficiary list beyond SECC 2011, and what are the additional inclusion criteria?

→ Use our free AI RTI Drafter to generate a complete Section 6(1) application.

• pmjay.gov.in - official PM-JAY scheme portal
• beneficiary.nha.gov.in - Am I Eligible / beneficiary check portal
• cgrms.nha.gov.in - NHA Central Grievance Redressal Management System
• pmjay.gov.in - helpline 14555 and Vay Vandana missed-call line 1800110770

By Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak