The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) on April 20, 2023, proposed to allow private entities, other than government ministries and departments, to carry out Aadhaar authentication. The decision comes with a view to making the process people-friendly, easy and widely accessible to all citizens.
At present, Aadhaar authentication is only carried out by government ministries and departments under the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Rules, 2020. Banks and telecommunication companies are some of the entities that have been performing such duties.
The decision is also based on a 2019 amendment to the Aadhaar Act, 2016, (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services), through which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had allowed all entities to perform authentication provided they complied with the standards of privacy and security specified by regulations, among other requirements.
The ministry has now called all such interested entities to submit a proposal justifying how the authentication sought serves the basic purpose and is in the best interest of the state. Once approved, the state departments concerned will forward the proposals to the ministry with recommendations.
The ministry has posted the proposed amendment on its official website and has invited stakeholders and the general public to submit their feedback through the MyGov platform by May 5, 2023.
