MeitY Grants MIB Authority To Use Aadhaar For Local Cable Operator Identity Verification

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has authorized the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to use Aadhaar for authenticating the identities of individuals registering as Local Cable Operators (LCOs) under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

This authentication process will be voluntary and conducted through a designated portal, as stated in the gazette notification published on Friday. The method will employ the “Yes/No” authentication facility, which simply confirms or denies the identity without disclosing any other information.

The notification was issued under Section 4 (4) (b) (ii) of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits, and Services) Act, 2016, and Rule 5 of the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Rules, 2020.

According to Section 4 (4) (b) (ii) of the Aadhaar Act, an entity can perform Aadhaar-based authentication if the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) determines that it serves a purpose prescribed by the central government, in consultation with UIDAI, and is in the interest of the state.

Rule 5 of the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance Rules mandates that the UIDAI evaluates the proposal from the requesting ministry—in this case, the MIB—and informs MeitY (under which UIDAI operates) that the requesting ministry can proceed with Aadhaar authentication.