A fake WhatsApp message has been making rounds yet again as the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are underway in the country.

The message is related to registration in the National Health Protection Mission or 'Ayushman Bharat' to avail the benefits of the healthcare scheme.

The message claims: " 10 crore individuals within the age group of 13 to 70 are being provided free health insurance. The last date to apply is

April 15, 2019, so hurry up and forward this message to all your friends so that they can avail the benefits of this insurance as well. To apply, click here: http://aayushman.sarkari-yojna.co.in.

The website mentioned in the message redirects the users to a page. Both the message and the website are of dubious nature.

The official Ayushman Bharat website is https://www.pmjay.gov.in/

The fake website resembles the original, carrying the logo and the government advertisement. But there is a small difference. The fake website has a countdown timer, reading: 'Registration Closed In,' at the beginning of the registration form that is purely in Hindi.

The website then prompts the user to fill out their name, age, phone number and state. Once filled, it redirects to another page inquiring if the user has an insurance and asking for their consent. It then claims that only married individuals and students can avail it.

Once the form is filled out, it directs to a page asking the users to share the message with their WhatsApp contacts to complete the registration process and avail insurance.

The message reads: "Dear applicant, your application has been successfully submitted. For the promotion and verification of Digital India, you need to share this message with 10 groups and friends on WhatsApp. After this, click on the 'blue' button to get your registration number."

Ahead of the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, the government had asked WhatsApp to contain the spread of fake news. To curb the menace, the Facebook-owned app unveiled its 'Checkpoint Tipline' for people to flag fake news.

Ayushman Bharat is a healthcare scheme of the Government of India, and apart from eligibility criteria, there is no deadline for registration to avail benefits.

The fake websites generate revenue by selling advertisements and the data they solicit from the unsuspecting users.

Individuals took to Twitter to call out the website being fake and urged the authorities to take appropriate actions.

@PMOIndia this message regarding Aayushman Bharat is making rounds on WhatsApp. I think link mentioned is fake. pic.twitter.com/pw2nPT0ixq

— गौravबीJain (@GauravBLJ) January 13, 2019

Ayushman Bharat was launched on September 23 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The centre has allocated about Rs. 10,000 crore for the healthcare project which is claimed to be the world's largest government-funded healthcare insurance programme.