The UK Government’s flagship identity verification scheme has been heavily criticised by the National Audit Office for failing to reach user targets.

In a report published this week, the NAO says Gov.UK Verify has only reached 3.6 million users so far – significantly short of its 25 million-user target by 2020.

Verify was launched by the Government Digital Service in 2016 with the aim of becoming the default platform for citizens to prove their identity and access online government services.

Initially, Verify was intended to help people access benefits payments and check income tax details. More than 40 government departments were scheduled to be connected to Verify by March 2018.

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However, recurring development problems have led only 19 services to be connected to the platform. Of those, 11 can still be accessed via alternative online systems.

Users trying to access the platform have also encountered significant problems, with nearly half (48%) of people who try to sign up achieving success in the first attempt.

Verify’s largest customer is the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which allows people to lodge universal credit claims. However, claimants have also encountered serious flaws in the system, with only 38% of users being able to successfully prove their identity.

A combination of failures, the report shows, has led the government to reassess the Verify’s financial benefits. The GDS’ predicted benefits of £836 million have been cut down to £217 million since the publication of its 2016 business case.

According to the NAO, the programme is an example of the government’s failure to set clear, achievable objectives for tech-focused projects.

“Verify is an example of many of the failings in major programmes that we often see, including optimising bias and failure to set clear objectives. Even in the context of GDS’s redefined objectives for the programme, it is difficult to conclude that successive decisions to continue with Verify have been sufficiently justified.”

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Following the publication of the report, Meg Hillier, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, heavily criticised the programme.

“The government’s flagship identity verification platform is a textbook case of government’s over-optimism and programme management failure,” Hillier said. “Despite spending at least £154 million on Verify, only half the people that try to sign up are able to use it and take-up is much lower than expected.”

The government is expected to stop funding Verify from April 2020, at which point it will hand the operation over to the private sector.

Hillier added that is it “not yet clear what it will cost for government departments to continue using Verify” after this point.