The government is mulling over allowing electronic KYC of Aadhaar as one of the valid documents for a new mobile connection, aimed at speeding up the verification process and eliminating the use of paper. The move will also address the security concerns as it can be tracked who has taken the mobile connection.
The telecom regulator has already submitted its recommendations to the Department of Telecom (DoT) after taking on board the views of the Solicitor General and the Attorney General, according to Trai Chairman R S Sharma.
Sebi has allowed mutual fund houses and market intermediaries to verify the credentials of their clients with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in order to simplify the electronic verification process through Aadhaar.
Currently retailers give multiple SIM cards on documents submitted by a person, which the actual owner of the documents might not be aware of, creating a security issue. Media reports said that a lot of paperwork will be reduced as retailers selling SIM cards will be able to get customer profile and biometric authentication details online with the UIDAI server.
UIDAI has already issued 97.93 crore Aadhaar numbers across the country.