India’s government has approved the integration of Aadhaar-enabled face authentication in private sector mobile applications, marking a significant expansion of the national ID system’s capabilities. The decision follows an amendment to the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance Rules, notified on January 31, 2025, enabling both government and non-government entities to use Aadhaar authentication services for public interest initiatives.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) has launched the Aadhaar Good Governance portal to streamline the authentication approval process. The development builds upon India’s broader digital identity infrastructure, which has already seen successful implementation in various sectors, including postal savings accounts and GST registration. The online platform provides detailed standard operating procedures for entities seeking to implement Aadhaar authentication, facilitating the integration of face authentication in customer-facing applications.
The expanded authentication scope encompasses multiple sectors, including hospitality, healthcare, credit rating bureaus, e-commerce, educational institutions, and aggregator service providers. Service providers can use the system for various purposes, such as staff attendance tracking, customer onboarding, e-KYC verification, and exam registration processes. The expansion is particularly significant as India continues to combat rising digital identity fraud, with face authentication offering an additional layer of security.
“With the launch of the Aadhaar Good Governance portal and continuous improvement of other processes and systems around it, we hope to expedite the process of adding more use cases in the domain of good governance and ease of living,” said Meity Secretary S Krishnan.
The initiative follows the notification of the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance Amendment Rules, 2025, under the Aadhaar Act of 2016. The development represents a shift from the Supreme Court’s September 2018 ruling, which had deemed Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act “susceptible to misuse” regarding private entities’ use of Aadhaar authentication for business purposes. The new framework includes enhanced security measures and oversight mechanisms to address the concerns raised in the 2018 ruling.
The portal launch event was attended by key officials including UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, NIC Director General Inder Pal Singh Sethi, UIDAI DDG Manish Bhardwaj, and other senior representatives from MeitY, UIDAI, and NIC. The initiative supports India’s broader digital transformation agenda, which includes the upcoming launch of an enhanced Central KYC Registry with AI features in 2025.
Sources: Rediff Money, Civils Daily, BSE India
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