Have you linked your Aadhaar number with mobile SIM?
Now, many telecom operators are offering a toll-free service – 14546 – for re-verification of your Aadhaar number on your mobile phone through an IVRS or Interactive Voice Response System. Mobile phone users can dial 14546 to link their Aadhaar number with the mobile number through IVRS-based OTP (One-Time PIN) verification. The UIDAI or Unique Identification Authority of India – the issuer of the 12-digit Aadhaar number – has issued directives for generating OTP either through the service provider’s website or through the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services to facilitate the Aadhaar linking with mobile phone number, the government has said on microblogging site Twitter.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had in a communication dated November 30, 2017 directed access service providers to allocate short code 14546 for the IVRS-based OTP authentication process for Aadhaar re-verification of mobile subscribers. March 31, 2018 is the deadline set by the Supreme Court for linking of Aadhaar with the mobile phone number.
The IVRS method of linking Aadhaar card number with mobile SIM is among the three options announced by the government in October last year. The Department of Telecommunications had directed telecom operators to provide three ways to enable their customers to link their Aadhaar card with mobile SIMs. These were: OTP-based, mobile app-based and IVRS. “These new methods will help subscribers to get their mobile number linked to Aadhaar without visiting the stores of the telcos (telecom companies),” the Department of Telecom (DoT) had said in a press release dated October 25.
The new IVR-based Aadhaar system will mobile phone subscribers link their SIM from sitting in their home. Earlier, they had to visit the store to get the linking done.Many telecom operators have activated this service. Mobile phone users may check with their telecom operator for such a facility.
#DigitalIdentity service made easy | @UIDAI (Aadhaar) has issued directives for generating OTP either through the service provider's website or through the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services to facilitate the linking, also known as re-verification. pic.twitter.com/RWuovxnOt3
— Digital India (@_DigitalIndia) January 2, 2018
Here’s how the IVRS-based Aadhaar authentication through helpline 14546 works:
Once you call the toll-free helpline 14546, the IVR system asks you whether you are an Indian citizen or an NRI. The caller is to provide response 1 in case of Indian citizen.
The caller is then asked to enter his or her 12-digit Aadhaar number.
The IVRS then repeats the number entered and asks the caller to confirm by pressing response 1.
After this step, an OTP or One-Time PIN is sent to the registered mobile number.
The IVR system asks the caller to give consent to the telecom operator to pick his or her name, photo and date of birth from the UIDAI database.
The caller is asked to enter the OTP in the next step.
The caller is asked to press 1 to complete the Aadhaar-mobile number re-verification process.
NRIs/OCIs are not eligible to enrol for Aadhaar and hence fully exempted from any Aadhaar verification of bank accounts/mobile SIM or other services, the UIDAI has said.
