Aadhaar-mobile number linking: 7 things to know
New Delhi, Nov 06 (ANI): The news has spread like forest fire that SIM cards not linked to Aadhar will be deactivated very soon, with many mobile networks sending such alerts to their customers. While the government has made it compulsory to link 12-digit Aadhaar card number with mobile SIM, the Supreme Court has asked the mobile networks to not threaten their customers of deactivating their SIMs. In the last few days, the government has also issued new guidelines for the linking of SIM cards with Aadhaar number. Here are seven things that you need to know about the process. Last date to link is February 6, 2018: So far, the last date to link your mobile number with Aadhaar is set to be February 6, 2018. Mobile users can use OTP to link SIM with Aadhar from December 1: Giving a major relief, the Unique Identification Authority said customers can start linking their mobile number with Aadhaar by using a one-time password (OTP) from December 1. Subscribers can request for OTP-based verification through SMS or voiced-based IVRS call or via the mobile app.Verify or re-verify mobile numbers from anywhere in the country: Telecom users can verify or re-verify their mobile numbers from anywhere in the country irrespective of which service area their mobile connection belongs to. Senior citizens will get doorstep service: Telecom operators are offering verification facility to senior citizens as well as those subscribers suffering from any kind of illness or disability at their doorstep. In cases of agent-assisted biometric authentication, full e-KYC details won’t be visible to the agent: In case of agent-assisted biometric authentication for SIM re-verification or issuance, telcoms have been asked to ensure that full e-KYC details of subscribers are not made visible to the agent. As per the new guidelines, the data cannot be stored on the agent's device. Users with more than one mobile connection need to link all SIMs via biometric verification: Subscribers who have more than one mobile number will have to get separate bio-metric verification done for each of their mobile connection. The mobile-Aadhaar linking ensures that SIM is not used for fake identity: The government is seeking to re-verify mobile numbers with Aadhaar to ensure that a number is not used for fake identity. This is being done keeping in mind the various cases where the PAN number or other identification documents of one person were recycled and misused to give connections to many other people.
