• Source:JND
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To make it easier for customers to access services through apps, the government on Thursday said it has allowed private companies to integrate Aadhaar-enabled facial recognition in their mobile apps. The process will be facilitated as part of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Aadhaar authentication, which has been created through the Aadhaar Good Governance Portal launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), an official statement said.

"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," the statement said.

Following an amendment that restored access to a separate ID verification mechanism for private entities, the ministry has launched the Aadhaar Good Governance Portal to streamline the approval process of Aadhaar authentication requests.

The amendment, announced in late January 2025, aims to further enhance the ease of life and help people access new services of their choice without any hassle, an official statement said.

"The online platform (swik.meity.gov.in) comes into effect, after Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Amendment Rules, 2025 under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 was notified in late January 2025. This amendment has been done to help improve transparency and inclusivity in the decision-making process," the statement said.

On January 31, the government announced an amendment to the Aadhaar Act to allow private companies to use Aadhaar authentication to provide their services.

"The amendment enables both government and non-government entities to avail Aadhaar authentication service for providing various services in the public interest for related specific purposes like enablement of innovation, spread of knowledge, promoting ease of living of residents and enabling better access to services for them," the statement.

In September 2018, the Supreme Court declared Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act as “unusable”. Section 57 empowers private entities to seek and use Aadhaar authentication for commercial purposes.

As part of its commitment to making Aadhaar people-friendly, making life easier and providing better access to services to citizens, the government has proposed rules to enable entities other than ministries and departments to enable Aadhaar authentication.

The new amendment will help Aadhaar number holders get hassle-free services from several sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, credit rating agencies, e-commerce companies, educational institutions and aggregator service providers, the statement said.

In the presence of UIDAI CEO Bhuvanesh Kumar, NIC Director General Inder Pal Singh Sethi, UIDAI Vice Chairman Manish Bharadwaj and other senior officials of MeitY, UIDAI and NIC, Meity Secretary S. Krishnan launched the Aadhaar Good Governance Portal.

By introducing this platform and continuously improving other processes and systems around it, we will accelerate the process of adding additional use cases in the domain of good governance and ease of living, Krishnan said.

(With Inputs From PTI)