Govt. Orders Telcos To Mention 6th February As Last Date For Aadhaar-SIM Linking

There is a general panic and scare among telecom users in India, regarding the mandatory Aadhaar-SIM Card linking. Calls, SMSes, notifications have been issued by various telcos, almost threatening the users that they connection would be disconnected, if their mobiles are not registered with Aadhaar.

However, the telcos fail to mention the deadline, which is further triggering panic.

Govt. has now ordered all telcos to mention the last date for this exercise, and this rule applies to all communications made to the customer.

Besides, in a related news, Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea against Aadhaar-SIM linking.

What is the truth here?

Govt. To Telcos: Mention The Last Date For Aadhaar-SIM Linking!

In a directive, TRAI has said that telcos must mention February 6th as the last date for linking their mobiles with Aadhaar, in all communications.

Department of Telecom, in their notification, said,

“Any communications/ voice messages/ SMS, which are to be sent by licencees to their mobile subscribers regarding re-verification of mobile connections through Aadhaar-based E-KYC process, shall contain the last date for re-verification, ie, 06.02.2018,”

Besides, they also want compliance report on the same.

Last month, Supreme Court had scolded the Govt. for creating unnecessary panic among telecom users, for pushing Aadhaar.

After this scolding, Govt. had to come out, and issue a statement saying that no mobile would be disconnected, due to lack of Aadhaar.

Meanwhile, a mechanism would be created, so that OTP based linking can be done for all users. Right now, users are forced to visit local retail stores, and then physically connect their SIM with Aadhaar using biometric devices.

We had reported this OTP based Aadhaar linking last month, whose final preparations are currently underway.

Around 75% of all mobile numbers stand a chance to get disconnected, in case they are not linked with Aadhaar before February 6th.

Supreme Court: No More Pleas Against Aadhaar!

Meanwhile, when a fresh plea was submitted in the Supreme Court, challenging Govt.’s order on mandatory Aadhaar-SIM linking, the bench headed by justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan dismissed it.

The bench said that already several pleas have been filed, and there is no need for a new plea, for the same issue.

The bench said,

“As a number of writ petitions have already been filed raising the issue which is raised in the present petition, it may not be necessary to entertain one more petition as PIL. It would be open to the petitioner to intervene in the petitions already filed by moving an appropriate application.”

As per Advocate Zoheb Hossain, who is representing UIDAI on this issue, already 27 pleas and petitions have been submitted in Supreme Court, regarding this issue.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra has already informed that a special bench would be constituted to hear all pleas, and the hearing would begin from November last.

We will keep you updated.