Telcos Seek Approval from DoT for Implementing Self KYC Process and Porting Procedure

Telecom Industry is facing operational difficulty amid the lockdown period which is announced by the government in mid-March. As a result of the lockdown, telecom operators have just added half-million subscribers in March month. The reason behind the less addition of subscribers is the decreased demand for new SIM cards and less porting requests. To ensure that people stay at home and enjoy telecom services, telcos have urged DoT to allow a self-KYC system for issuing SIM cards, according to an ET Telecom report. Not only this, but telecom operators have also requested the government to enable the porting process digitally, which will reduce the physical movement of subscribers for such services.

COAI Proposed End-to-End Digital Method for Porting Requests

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents all the telecom operators, has addressed telecom secretary Anshu Prakash in an official letter and stated that the porting requests and services must be converted in a digital process in the current scenario to ensure the safety of subscribers amid the lockdown period.

As per the method proposed by COAI, if the subscribers want to avail new SIM card or porting services, they will have to fill in the required details in the official website of their telecom service provider (TSP). Once the details are filled, subscribers will have to select the Point of Interface (POI) and Point of Access (POA). For live photo, subscribers will have to record a small video of 5 seconds from which artificial intelligence (AI) will automatically select a decent picture. This process will solve the porting requests and issuance of New SIM cards.

Subscribers Will Get Home Delivery of New SIM Cards

As per the method proposed by COAI, subscribers will be allowed to get two connections per day using the Point of Interface and Access Documents. Once the subscribers successfully fill all the details for the digital issuance of new SIM cards, they will be able to get new SIM cards at their doorstep.

For pickup, subscribers will just have to show the point of Interface document along with the OTP which will be sent to the alternate number of the subscribers. Once they confirm the OTP, they will get their final SIM cards by the telecom service provider (TSP).