In a major step towards its long-awaited India launch, Elon Musk-owned Starlink has received the green light to conduct Aadhaar-based verification of customers in the country. The satellite internet provider has been officially onboarded by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as both a Sub-Authentication User Agency (Sub-AUA) and Sub-eKYC user agency, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) announced on Wednesday, August 20.
This development marks a crucial milestone for Starlink’s entry into India’s satellite broadband market, where it will compete with players like Bharti-backed OneWeb and Reliance Jio-SES.
What Starlink’s Aadhaar Verification Means for Customers
According to MeitY, Starlink Aadhaar Verification will make customer onboarding “smooth, secure and very easy,” while ensuring compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. Importantly, Aadhaar authentication will remain voluntary, as per existing regulations.
By leveraging Aadhaar eKYC, Starlink customers can expect a paperless, quick, and transparent verification process, reducing delays and red tape. The system will use India’s trusted digital identity infrastructure to streamline the delivery of high-speed satellite internet to households, businesses, and institutions across urban and rural areas.
UIDAI and Starlink: A Strategic Partnership
The official onboarding ceremony witnessed the presence of UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, Deputy Director General Manish Bhardwaj, and Parnil Urdhwareshe, Director of Starlink India.
The ministry highlighted that Aadhaar has already become a cornerstone of India’s digital public infrastructure, enhancing both ease of living and ease of doing business. Its growing face authentication solution is also gaining momentum due to its convenience and reliability.
Industry experts view this collaboration as a powerful synergy between India’s digital identity ecosystem and global satellite technology. It demonstrates Aadhaar’s scalability while reinforcing the credibility of India’s digital infrastructure in enabling next-generation services like satellite broadband.
Regulatory Journey of Starlink in India
Starlink’s clearance for Aadhaar verification follows the final approval it received last month from IN-SPACe, India’s nodal agency for space authorisation. However, the road has not been smooth.
The company previously faced hurdles with licensing and pushback from Indian telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, particularly over spectrum allocation for satellite communications.
Starlink is now the third operator, after Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES, to secure all necessary permissions for satcom services in India. Global tech players such as Amazon’s Project Kuiper and Apple supplier Globalstar have also applied for licences, indicating an increasingly competitive landscape.
Data Localisation & Compliance Measures
Earlier this month, Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar confirmed that Starlink had agreed to store network traffic and other critical data locally in India, addressing one of the key concerns of regulators.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has also laid down strict compliance norms for satellite operators, including local manufacturing requirements, data localisation, the use of domestic navigation systems, blocking mechanisms, and close coordination with law enforcement agencies.
While Starlink has crossed major regulatory milestones, the allocation of spectrum is still pending. Until DoT finalises its rules for satcom spectrum, operators will remain in a preparatory phase.
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