The Telecom Department and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will come out with an updated method on SIM verification for NRIs and foreign tourists who are not eligible for Aadhaar.
Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan has said that those (NRI’s) who have Aadhaar or are entitled to get it will have to verify their SIMs with their Aadhaar.
One such way for NRIs and foreign tourists could be authentication through passport, but no decision has been taken yet on the matter, she added.
Telecom operators have been asked to submit to UIDAI a blueprint of the process to operationalize the new modes (including OTP) of SIM re-verification through Aadhaar, by November 15.
The government has also ordered the companies to carry out the exercise at the doorsteps of the disabled, chronically ill and senior citizens.
The mobile numbers can also be linked with Aadhaar through OTP (one time password), app or IVRS facility.
Telecom operators have also been directed to deploy iris devices at “appropriate number of service points” so subscribers have access to iris authentication “within a reasonable geographical distance”.
The Telecom Secretary said Aadhaar-based process for SIM verification was devised in the wake of complaints about mobile connections being issued without proper due diligence by telecom operators (and later such SIMs being used by terrorists and fraudsters) and the Supreme Court’s observations in February this year in a PIL by Lokniti Foundation.
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