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Dish TV aligns with Aadhaar, accepts UID number
NEW DELHI: Dish TV has aligned with ‘Aadhaar’ – a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is issuing to all residents of India.
Dish TV, the country’s first direct-to-home platform, is also the first to accept the UID as a Know Your Customer (KYC) validation for address and identity proof.
In a first for the industry, the DTH operator will be acknowledging the UID numbers of all Aadhaar holders as an “officially valid document” for installation and subscription purposes of its services.
Commenting on the move, Dish TV chief operating officer Salil Kapoor said, “Not only will this be of convenience to consumers across the nation, the move will also facilitate the reach of digital content into far and rural areas of the country where establishing proof of identity is a predicament. Aadhaar will also serve an additional payment option to Dish TV as the UID has a direct connect to the banks and financial institutions.”
The UID numbers issued to over a million residents, with a target of 600 million by 2013, will be accepted as officially valid documents through all Dish TV dealers and channel partners across the country. This association will be of immense value to the existing and potential customers of Dish TV with screening of identity and address proof made easy and quick through the unique numbers allotted to all Aadhaar holders.
Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique number which the UIDAI is issuing to all residents of India.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
