PCI: Final Warning to Institutions on Biometric Attendance

PCI estimates there are over 6000 pharmacy institutions across India; only 45% of them were approved at that time.

August 26, 2025

462

PCI: Final Warning to Institutions on Biometric Attendance

Table of Contents

Last Updated on September 14, 2025 by The Health Master

Institutions

The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is letting all pharmacy institutions know that if they have not yet adopted the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS), this is their final notice.

Follow us on WhtasApp Channel

PCI’s council will “withhold its decision regarding the colleges,” which means those who have not complied by the end of the first week of August could face suspension for an entire academic year depending upon PCI’s next steps.

It’s not a new implementation.

PCI has been requesting AEBAS attendance for some time, establishing the notion that attendance must be legitimized with inventory measures.

Implementation Low as PCI Reports Findings

PCI noted in the letter that it sent out to colleges that the implementation compliance numbers were abysmal as of the start of the first week of August.

PCI estimates there are over 6000 pharmacy institutions across India; only 45% of them were approved at that time.

PCI estimates almost 95000 faculty with approved status or licensure in India; only about 12600 logged into the system and verified their attendance requirements for compliance.

“This is simply too low,” explained PCI’s registrar-cum-secretary Anil Mittal.

Thus, on August 21, 2025, PCI sent out a circular giving colleges 15 days to comply and approve their faculty registration constitution.

If they did not comply, PCI would “withhold its decision regarding the institution,” which essentially means potential suspension, which does not bode well for those seeking PCI placements in 2025-26.

Why is this so important?

This attendance system is vital to maintain consistency for PCI’s day-to-day activity.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had suggested and implemented similar devices in the professional world as early as October 2023.

Therefore, this attendance now allows PCI to appropriately acknowledge attendance for faculty and students, showing PCI, and potentially anyone else, where attendance has been taken or where it needs to be.

Transparency: PCI and other students will know for certain who is on staff and who is there/not present.

Accountability: If someone is marked absent, there need not be any question if attendance was taken or not.

Equity: Other colleges and universities are similarly mandated to use similar systems for a united effort of education.

Stability: PCI can indicate that all proper proceedings are in place for effective educational opportunities.

Deterrence: The longer this compliance loophole exists, the less effective attendance is.

Accessing the device was easy; PCI had purchased the AEBAS device in January 2025 and attended a seminar that guided institutions on how to log onto the portal to begin onboarding; recommendations were subsequently sent with user manuals and links unique to each pharmacy institution to get everyone on board effectively.

What’s Next?

Receiving the most recent communication is one pharmacy institutions never want to receive.

Those who have attempted only half have only a few short days to either comply or not be penalized, as PCI has already announced its intentions to withhold any non-compliant institution’s status pending a 2025-26 awards semester.

This stems from a 2023 notification where PCI was permitted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to carry out attendance with Aadhaar authentication to comply.

Subsequently, it would happen in phases for faculty and then for students.

FAQs

Q: What is AEBAS?

Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) is an online attendance-based system that tracks biometric fingerprints with the Aadhaar number submitted for each person.

Q: Why is AEBAS mandatory?

AEBAS is mandatory because the Pharmacy Council of India would like transparency across all schools to assure accountability of who’s present in their schools versus who’s registered but doesn’t come to class.

Q: Are students also to have AEBAS?

While the first airflow is for non-faculty and faculty members, ultimately it would go into effect for students as well under a mandatory timeline to be established.

Disclaimer: This article contains information obtained from the source mentioned below. Our team made changes in the format to rewrite and present the news or article in a unique format.