Priyanka Tiwari
Share
On Thursday, the government revealed that it has permitted the use of Aadhaar-enabled face recognition to be incorporated into mobile apps of private sector companies in a bid to make it easier for users to access services via the applications.
As per an official statement, the undertaking will be done as part of the SOP for Aadhaar authentication, which has already been set through an Aadhaar Good Governance portal that the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has launched.
"The portal shall work as a resource-rich guide and offer detailed SOP for authentication seeking entities on how to apply and how to onboard for Aadhaar authentication. Face authentication may also be integrated in the customer facing apps of private entities which will enable anytime anywhere authentication,” said the statement.
An official statement previously noted that the Ministry has also decided to set up an Aadhaar Good Governance portal to expedite the approval of requests for Aadhaar authentication from private entities after a modification that brought back the use of the unique identification ID for private entities. According to a declaration, expanding the functions of Aadhaar authentication as outlined in the amendment published at the end of January 2025 is expected to enhance the ease of living and enable users to conveniently utilize newer services.
“The statement said, “the amendment has been done to help improve transparency and inclusiveness in the decision making process.” According to the statement, “this online platform comes into effect, after the aforementioned rules have been notified which, was in late January 2025.”The on line platform ( swik meity gov in ) comes into play after the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance Amendmenot Rules 2025 is notified.” This addition has been made to the Aadhaar Act for the betterment of decision making inclusiveness as well as transparency.” On January 31, the government notified a change in the amendment of the Aadhar Act, via which private agencies will now be allowed to use Aadhar authentication for servicing.
Along with other services, both government and non government agencies can now avail of Aadhar authentication services, which enable the provision of services in the public interest for innovation, knowledge dissemination, increased ease of living and better service access,” The statement said.
In the case of the Aadhar Act, Section 57 has been considered to be “susceptible to misuse” by the Supreme Court back in 2018.
As a result of Section 57, private companies were allowed to access and leverage Aadhaar authentication for business reasons. Meity mentioned that it has drafted regulations to allow Aadhaar authentication by entities other than government ministries and departments as an effort to make Aadhaar more user-friendly and ensure better service delivery to citizens.
The new amendment allows the customers who have their Aadhaar numbers to use the services without much needed at ease in the hospitality and healthcare sectors, at the credit rating bureau, e-commerce firms, educational institutions, and with aggregator service providers, according to the statement.
“Service providers too will find it useful for a number of tasks such as staff attendance, customer onboarding, e-KYC verification, exam registrations, etc,” the statement read.
Meity Secretary S Krishnan, in the company of UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, NIC Director General Inder Pal Singh Sethi, UIDAI DDG Manish Bhardwaj and other higher officials of MeitY, UIDAI, NIC has introduced the new Good Governance portal by Aadhar. Krishnan stated that with the introduction of the new platform and the mitigation of other processes and systems surrounding it, we intend to enhance in good Governanace and easy living.
Read More: West Bengal Chief Minister Slams Election Commission Over Gross Irregularities in Electoral Rolls[
