In a joint statement, the DoT and the UIDAI rejected a media report claiming that 50 crore mobile numbers are at the risk of disconnection.
Amid speculations that mobile numbers verified through Aadhaar-based KYC process are at the risk of disconnection, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Thursday said there will be no disruption in disruption in services due to change in know-your-customer regime following the Supreme Court's Aadhaar verdict.
In a joint statement, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the UIDAI rejected a media report claiming that 50 crore mobile numbers are at the risk of disconnection following the change in the KYC regime. The report said that these mobile numbers, almost half of the total connections in circulation, "stare a prospect of disconnection if SIM cards procured on the basis of Aadhaar verification are not backed up by a fresh identification”.
The joint statement clarified that the Supreme Court in its Aadhaar judgement has nowhere directed that the mobile number which has been issued through Aadhaar eKYC has to be disconnected.
Therefore, there is absolutely no reason for panic or fear at all, the UIDAI said adding that people should not believe in such rumours.
The UIDAI added that the Supreme Court has not asked telcos to delete all the eKYC data of telecom customers after 6 months.
"What the apex Court has asked that UIDAI should not keep authentication log for more than 6 months. The restriction of not keeping authentication log beyond six months is on the UIDAI and not on the telecom companies," it said, "Therefore, there is no need for telecom companies or AUAs/KUAs to delete authentication logs at their end. They are in fact required to keep Authentication logs at their end as per Aadhaar regulations to resolves any consumer grievances."
Customers can opt to get fresh eKYC done without the Aadhaar but no mobile number will be disconnected, it said.
The joint statement said that what Supreme Court has done is that it has prohibited issuance of new SIM cards through Aadhaar eKYC authentication process due to lack of a law and there is no direction to deactivate the old mobile phones.
The UIDAI said if those who wish to get Aadhaar eKYC replaced by the fresh KYC may request the service provider for delinking of Aadhaar by submitting fresh documents.
A DoT official was quoted as saying by PTI on Wednesday that telecom subscribers may be affected due to transition from Aadhaar-based authentication to a court-compliant system but they will not face any service related issues due to documentation.
There are speculations that subscribers enrolled through Aadhaar-based authentication process may have to provide fresh documents to complete their KYC process again as a Supreme Court judgement has restricted use of Aadhaar-based verification by private entities.
The UIDAI had given time till October 15 to telecom operators for complying with the apex court order and asked them to close Aadhaar-based verification for their services.
Reliance Jio has its entire customer base enrolled through Aadhaar-based authentication and other telecom operators too started following the process in 2017.
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