The government on Tuesday, May 1, issued a clarification on Aadhaar number must for getting a mobile SIM card saying that it is not mandatory and phone number can be issued with alternative identification cards. The government on Tuesday asked all the operators to follow the instructions “immediately” and accept other identification documents for a mobile SIM, telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said.
“The ministry has issued instructions to all telecom companies, asking them not to deny a SIM card to any individual who does not have an Aadhaar number. We have asked them to accept other forms of KYC (know your customer) documents, and continue to issue SIM cards,” the telecom secretary told Times of India.
On the retailers demanding Aadhaar number for a mobile SIM, a senior officer said, “This kind of a denial by retailers is completely uncalled for when there is no legal basis to enforce it. Such practices will not be tolerated.”
The development comes a few days after the Supreme Court denied giving an order to link Aadhaar to mobile number. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, denied making Aadhaar-Mobile number linkage mandatory.
Sources : Agencies sites
