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The Modi government, which has been on an overdrive to link Aadhaar with several benefits and schemes, has now made it mandatory for getting a mobile phone connection.
The existing 100 crore-plus mobilephone subscribers are also required to give Aadhaar details within a year (February 6, 2018) to continue their services.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) on Friday said it had sent information to all telecom service providers (TSPs) that they should intimate their subscribers via advertisements through print/electronic media, as well as SMS, about the government order for re-verification, and upload the complete details on their websites.
The decision is the result of the Supreme Court’s February 6 order that Aadhaar-based e-KYC is required for issuing new telephone connections.
The DoT held a meeting with the telecom industry on February 13, wherein representatives from the Unique Identification Authority of India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Prime Minister’s Office discussed the way forward to implement the Apex court’s directives.
“An effective process has been put in place to ensure verification of identity and address of all mobilephone subscribers. This amounts to a direction that is to be completed within a year,” the DoT said in its notification.
It said all TSPs should device mechanisms to avoid public inconvenience as well as long queues, and should use/share a common device ecosystem through mutual agreement among them. For the re-verification through the Aadhaar e-KYC process, a telecom company should send a ‘verification code’ to the mobile subscriber, the DoT said, “to confirm that the SIM card of mobile connection is physically available with the subscriber.”
Only after this is done, should the TSP process the e-KYC and the re-verification, it said, adding that the service provider should seek confirmation from subscribers about the re-verification of their mobile number after 24 hours, through SMS.
The department also said that the Telecom Enforcement and Resource Monitoring Cells should not impose any penalty for change in subscriber details, including name and address of a mobile connection, on account of the re-verification activity.
“The instructions for use of e-KYC process, in case of outstation customers and bulk connections, shall be issued separately,” it added.
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