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Airtel is planning to start Aadhaar-enabled KYC (Know Your Customer) services in Delhi, The Director General and Mission Director of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) R S Sharma told Deccan Herald.
Vodafone has already implemented Aadhaar-enabled services in two stores in Andhra Pradesh— Hyderabad and Vijaywada.
The authorities have also started discussing with other telecom players to start the pilot projects in other parts of the country.
There are special computers in the stores on which Aadhaar-enabled CAF (customer acquisition form) applications have been uploaded. These are connected to biometric devices. To establish one’s identity, an Aadhaar-number holder is to touch a device which reads fingerprints. The biometric details is transmitted electronically to Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) operated by UIDAI. Only after successful Aadhaar authentication, a SIM card will be issued.
“We will send the pilot projects report of issuing SIM against Aadhaar to Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for address verification,” Sharma said.
Meanwhile, DoT officials said they will issue notification only after they receive successful pilot project results. Before giving go-ahead to telecom companies about use of Aadhaar as address proof, the DoT may also seek the advise from the Home Ministry as it involves security issues.
About 20 per cent of applicants in urban areas and 40 per cent in rural areas are unable to provide proper documents to obtain a phone connection, Aadhaar number will help those residents to get mobile connections.
The UIDAI which has already issued over 21 crore Aadhaar number is expected to complete the process in 51 districts by March 31, 2013. The authority has been mandated to enrol 60 crore people by 2014.
During same time along with the implementation of welfare schemes, including PDS distribution, MGNREGS, pension, scholarship and distribution of subsidised LPG, distribution of SIM cards are also expected to roll-on, sources in the UIDAI said.