I-T returns, PAN card, what next? Aadhaar a must for mobile phone connections

After university degrees, I-T returns and PAN card, the government will soon make Aadhaar mandatory for getting a telecom connection. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has sent a notice to all telecom operators that all mobile phone subscribers — prepaid and postpaid — will have to be verified using e-KYC.

The telecom department has directed mobile service providers to finish the e-KYC re-verification of existing subscribers by February 6, 2018.

Here is the copy of DoT notification.

The notice came after the Supreme Court said that all phone numbers in India need to have verified users.

In February, DoT met with UIDAI, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Prime Minister’s Office to discuss way forward for the implementation.

Read more: In future, only Aadhaar may be required for identification: FM

The telecom operators will have to re-verify its existing users through Aadhaar. According to the DoT note, telecom operators will have to intimate customers through advertisements and SMSes.

The government is working to make Aadhaar as the single verification process for services. However, the Supreme Court had said that it can be made mandatory for some services, if not all.

On Tuesday, the Finance Ministry had made Aadhaar mandatory for filing Income Tax returns. The Aadhaar will also have to be linked to permanent account number (PAN). If citizens fail to do so, their PAN could be cancelled.