Government of India has decided to make it mandatory to link mobile SIM connections with Aadhaar number to weed out ghost users and curb the misuse of mobile phones for any terrorist act, extortion or other offences.
As per latest information, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued Aadhaar numbers to over 70 crore residents in the country. Government has set the deadline of June next year for covering the entire population under the Aadhaar project.
Major telecom operators - BSNL, MTNL, Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and Idea, have also agreed to test Aadhaar number based e-KYC for issuing SIM cards in five circles as a pilot project. This pilot will be conducted in Bhopal, Kolkata, Delhi, Lucknow and Bengaluru by telecom operators.
Under the proposal, a person would be able to avail a new SIM card (Mobile Connection) instantaneously by entering his/her Aadhaar number and biometrics,
without needing to present a physical documentary proof. The Unique
Identification Authority (UID) servers from the back-end will verify the
antecedents.
With
this, Aadhar number will be mandatory for one to buy a new Mobile
Conncetion. Now, all major telecom companies started asking customers to
submit their Aadhar number with their new connection request.
Two
months ago, Department of Telecom (DoT) had asked all mobile operators
to collect ‘Aadhaar’ number along with customer application form for
issuing new connections and store the unique identification number in
their database.
DoT had also asked the operators to amend their database in two months by adding the ‘Aadhaar’ number.
However,
the Home Ministry had raised multiple concerns over using UIDAI number
as an address proof in the DoT’s proposed online verification system,
citing possible issues with the supporting Aadhaar data. It said that
unlike ‘Aadhaar’, other acceptable proof of address documents such as
passport, driving licence do not have the status of universality and
therefore “even higher levels of error in these documents may not
translate into comparable volume of security concerns.
The
Home Ministry had also raised concern over the involvement of foreign
vendors by UIDAI for storing data and has suggested audit of data
security.
As per latest information, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued Aadhaar numbers to over 70 crore residents in the country. Government has set the deadline of June next year for covering the entire population under the Aadhaar project.
