Aadhaar must for procuring new SIM

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has asked all telecom operators to re-verify their existing mobile customers through Aadhaar based e-KYC (Know Your Customer) process. “All licensees shall re-verify all existing mobile subscribers (both prepaid and postpaid) through Aadhaar based e-KYC process,” the DoT said in its notification issued on Friday, adding that the companies have to complete this process by February 6, 2018.

Unverified mobile phone numbers or any number that is not linked to Aadhaar, will be illegal after February 6, 2018 and such connections will be disconnected. The notification was issued following the Supreme Court direction in February this year, which had approved the DoT's proposal to verify all details of customers through Aadhaar-based KYC to weed out illegal mobile connections, obtained through fraudulent documents. 

The DoT also asked the telecom companies to intimate customers about the process of verification in advance through SMS as well as advertisements both in print and electronic media.  The government also asked the companies to set up a proper system to complete the task to avoid inconvenience to subscribers as the process would impact over 100 crore users across the country. Aadhaar-based e-KYC would be mandatory for customers procuring new SIMs.