The process of linking your Aadhaar card with mobile number just got easier. On Wednesday, the government announced a number of measures, including allowing re-verification at subscribers’ doorstep and One Time Password (OTP) based authentication of existing users, to make the entire exercise easier for telecom subscribers. According to a report by PTI, this decision was taken to offer facility for re-verification at the subscribers’ doorstep for the convenience of those with disability, illness or old age. In case you still don’t know how to link Aadhaar card with mobile number without visiting the store, here is what the government has come up with:
First of all, the operators have been asked to place an online mechanism (through website, and other means) for people to request for such service. Apart from this, the government has also asked telecom to initiate a scheme to use OTP based re-verification of mobile subscribers using SMS or IVRS or on their mobile app providers. “This means that if one mobile number is registered in Aadhaar database, then the OTP method can be used for reverification of that number as well as other mobile numbers owned by the subscriber,” a source was quoted saying by PTI.
In case of agent-assisted biometric authentication for SIM re-verification or issuance, telcos have been asked to ensure that full e-KYC details of subscribers are not made visible to the agent. Nor should data be stored on the agent’s device. These measures have been taken with an aim to improve ease of re-verification and its success rate.
The telecom operators have also been asked to deploy iris devices at “appropriate number of service points” so subscribers have access to iris authentication “within a reasonable geographical distance”. This step can be helpful for people who face a problem with fingerprint authentication, owing to poor fingerprint quality, disability or old age.
These steps were taken as some residents, especially senior citizens found it difficult to verify their identity using fingerprint-based Aadhaar authentication. Also, there were cases where residents – those bed ridden, ill or physically challenged – were unable to visit the service points of telecom service providers.