Insurance companies able to use Aadhaar biometrics, UIDAI for e-KYC checks

India’s federal government followed the move by extending voluntary biometric authentication to nine financial market entities, including BSE, National Securities Depository, and Central Depository Services (India). The Finance Ministry authorised the changes with a pair of notifications.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irda) sets the regulations for the insurance industry, while the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) regulates securities firms. Both are subject to the privacy and security standards contained in the Aadhaar Act. Sebi stated its support for eKYC checks through Aadhaar in 2019, and issued its own framework for how it would work.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the use of Aadhaar biometrics for remote e-KYC checks for onboarding new banking customers at the beginning of 2020.