The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) today approved the new blueprint presented by telecom operators under which new methods will be implemented for Aadhaar-based SIM re-verification of existing subscribers from December 1, 2017.
Recently, Indian Government asked the telecom operators to enable a new method for a re-verification scheme using One-Time Password (OTP). Today, UIDAI has approved the same method to operationalise the new mode from December 1.
“Their (telecom operators’) plans have been approved... They have come and we have told them they will implement (the process) from December 1,” UIDAI chief executive officer (CEO) Ajay Bhushan Pandey told Press Trust of India (PTI).
Alongside the OTP based verification, the government also announced two more ways- IRIS based authentication and app-based re-verification. All the three proposed methods have now received approval from the UIDAI.
The government, last month, announcing the new methods said "“It has come to our notice that some of the residents, especially senior citizens, face difficulty in verifying their identity using fingerprint-based Aadhar authentication. Further, there are cases where residents due to being bedridden, physically challenged and are not able to visit service points of telecom service providers. Such instances may result in denial of service to them.”
The PTI report states that the new methods were "considered and approved from the point of view of security, compliance with the Aadhaar Act and protection of privacy."
Going forward, telecom operators will implement these new methods for the re-verification. “Mobile companies have assured the UIDAI that they will implement OTP-based verification of mobile numbers by month-end and this will allow people to get the verification done without actually visiting the store or retail agent,” Pandey added.
Yesterday, Indian telecom department has issued an order to clearly specify the last date for linking Aadhaar number with mobile connections for re-verification as several consumers are complaining about the notification of messages without any proper date.
That said, the last date for the re-verification as per the Supreme Court is February 6, 2018. Pandey also said that the new methods will “help achieve the (re-verification) task in the given timeframe (6 February deadline) and make the whole system more secure as it will prevent misuse of a mobile number by unscrupulous elements”.
