Rejecting a report by an English daily that said 500 million mobile numbers, almost half of the total mobiles in circulation, are at the risk of disconnection, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issued a joint statement.

DoT and UIDAI clarified that risks of disconnection are untrue and imaginary. The statement goes on to say, "SC has asked UIDAI to not keep authentication log for more than six months. The restriction is on UIDAI and not on telecom companies."

"In the light of the verdict if anybody wishes to get her or his Aadhaar eKYC replaced by the fresh KYC, she or he may request the service provider for de-linking of their Aadhaar by submitting fresh OVDs (official valid documents) as per earlier DOT circulars on mobile KYC. But in any case his mobile number will not be disconnected," the statement said.

Earlier, the government had said that around 200-300 million telecom subscribers may be affected due to transition from Aadhaar-based authentication to a court-compliant system but they will not face any service related issues due to documentation.

Re-verification of mobile subscribers KYC details is now voluntary, said DoT-UIDAI in a joint statement.

Reliance Jio has its entire customer base enrolled through Aadhaar-based authentication and other telecom operators too started following the process in 2017.

"We will ensure that customers services are not affected. Whatever arrangements are put in place it will facilitate a smooth transition from current regime to the Supreme Court-compliant regime," the DoT official said.

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