The Department of telecommunications (DoT) in a directive on Friday asked telecom operators to stop the verification of mobile numbers using the Aadhaar-based e-KYC process with instructions to provisionally do the verifications using a new digital process. In compliance with the Supreme Court’s judgment, DoT in a fresh notification directed all operators to “discontinue the use of Aadhaar e-KYC services of UIDAI for re-verification of existing subscribers with immediate effect”. “All licensees are to discontinue the use of Aadhaar e-KYC services of the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) both for verification as well as for issuing new mobile connections. All operators shall ensure its implementation across the country in a time-bound manner and compliance in this regard be submitted by November 5, 2018,” the notification added. On September 26, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar act, which allowed private entities to access Aadhaar data. DoT said that operators on October 5 suggested an alternate digital process for KYC, wherein the customer acquisition form (CAF) is to be embedded with a live photograph of the subscriber and scanned images of PoI DoT asks each telecom service provider to submit a compliance report pertaining to discontinuation of Aadhaar eKYC service for re-verification but says that telcos may accept copy of physical Aadhaar or e-Aadhaar letter "if offered voluntarily by the subscriber" @IndianExpress — Pranav Mukul (@pranavmukul) October 26, 2018 Accordingly, it directed all operators to ensure readiness of their systems and offer proof of concept of the proposed digital process by November 5, 2018, for approval. Operators have been allowed to use the process provisionally and any modification in the process by the government shall be carried out within a month. As per the apex court judgement, subscribers can voluntarily submit Aadhaar for proof of ID (PoI) and proof of address (PoA) to the operators for mobile number verification purposes.
