New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) The government has amended the Aadhaar Act to allow private entities to use Aadhaar authentication for delivering their services, according to a notification issued on Friday.

The Supreme Court had in September 2018 termed Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act "susceptible to misuse". The Section 57 empowered private entities to seek and use Aadhaar authentication for business purposes.

Now, the government has notified Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Amendment Rules, 2025 with provision to provide Aadhaar Authentication to private entities based on the approval of their proposal for the facility.

"Any entity other than the Ministry or Department... which is desirous of utilising Aadhaar authentication, shall prepare a proposal with justification in regard to the authentication sought being for a purpose specified in rule 3 and in the interest of state, and submit the same to the Ministry or Department concerned," the notification said.

Rule 3 allows Aadhaar authentication for usage of digital platforms to ensure good governance, prevention of dissipation of social welfare benefits and enablement of innovation and the spread of knowledge.

One of the sub-rules under rule 3 mandates that Aadhaar authentication should be on a voluntary basis.

The ministry or the department to which the proposal has been submitted by the private entity finds that the proposal submitted thereunder fulfils a purpose specified in the rule 3 and is in the interest of the state then it will have to forward the proposal, along with its recommendations to the Centre.

The applications of private entities will be examined by UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) and the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) will issue the approval based on the recommendation of UIDAI for using Aadhaar authentication.

"The concerned ministry or department of the central or state government will notify the entity for Aadhaar usage after receiving confirmation from Meity," an official statement issued on the notification said.

The statement from the Ministry of Electronics and IT said the amendment has been done to help improve transparency and inclusivity in the decision-making process.

"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. This will help both the service providers as well as the service seekers to have trusted transactions," the statement said.

The amendment would help people avail services of e-commerce, travel, tourism, hospitality and health sector, etc, being provided by entities other than government entities, the statement said.

The statement added that any entity seeking Aadhaar authentication will be required to apply with the details of intended requirements to the ministry concerned or department of the central or state government in a format being made available on a portal for this purpose. PTI PRS TRB