Soon, You Won't Have To Visit Retailers To Link Aadhaar With SIM

The government has now made it easier for mobile phone customers to link their phone number (SIM) with their Aadhaar card number. Aadhaar - the 12 digit biometric number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India - is required to be linked with multiple essential facilities like with the phone number, bank accounts, social welfare schemes etc, the government said. The last date for Aadhaar-SIM linking is February 6, 2018. As of now, people who link their Aadhaar card with phone number have to visit a retailer and provide their biometrics again.

This will change with effect from December 1, 2017.
 

Aadhaar-SIM linking: How to link Aadhaar with mobile phone number via OTP

"By 1 Dec 2017, you can also choose to verify your mobile SIM with Aadhaar without giving your biometrics to Telecom Service Providers," stated the official Twitter handle of the Unique Identification @UIDAI. People will be able to do it with the help of a one-time password (OTP) received on their mobile number registered with their Aadhaar card, from the comfort of their home.
 

By 1 Dec 2017, you can also choose to verify your mobile SIM with Aadhaar without giving your biometrics to Telecom Service Providers. pic.twitter.com/zcCKYbYgwP

— Aadhaar (@UIDAI) November 2, 2017

Besides the OTP-based option, mobile users can link their Aadhaar card number with their phone through two more options: via app and the Interactive voice response (IVRS) facility.

"These new methods will help subscribers to get their mobile number linked to Aadhaar without visiting the stores of the telcos (telecom companies)," the Department of Telecom said in a press release dated October 25.

"For the ease of senior citizens and the people with disability and chronic illness, DoT has also recommended for the re-verification at subscribers' doorstep," it noted.

The DoT has mandated that telecom service providers' agent should not have access to the subscribers' e-KYC data.

Only the name and address of the subscribers should be visible, the telecom department added.

Subscribers can verify or re-verify their mobile numbers from anywhere in the country irrespective of which service area their mobile connection belongs to, it further said.

The telecom operators have welcomed the latest clarifications by the DoT on Aadhaar card linking.

"...We are implementing all the necessary processes so as to be able to use the additional methods prescribed including OTP, App based and the IVRS facility. We expect it to get much faster and easier for individual mobile subscribers to comply with the e-KYC (Know Your Customer) norms using their Aadhaar Registered Mobile Number (ARMN)," industry body Cellular Operators Association of India representative said.