The ongoing Aadhaar-mobile SIM card re-verification process has just become a little easier for people across the country. Consumers can now simply dial a central number, regardless the network, to link their mobile number with Aadhaar number. This will bring a sigh of relief for consumers across the country, who only had the option to visit offline stores run by their operators to link the two till now. Now, they can use the IVR (Interactive voice response) service from their homes instead, cutting out the hassle involved in going to physical outlets. Consumers have till February 6 to link their mobile number with Aadhaar.
How to link Aadhaar with mobile phone number
If you want to re-verify your phone number by linking it to Aadhaar, the process is rather simple. You just need to keep your Aadhaar number at hand. Whether you are on Airtel, Idea, Jio and Vodafone or any other operator, you simply need to call the toll-free number 14546 from the phone number. Follow these steps, as directed by the IVR, to complete the re-verification process.
- When you call 14546, you will be asked to select whether you are an Indian national or an NRI by selecting the respective option
- Next, you will have to give consent to link Aadhaar with your phone number by pressing 1
- After that, you need to provide your Aadhaar number and press 1 to confirm
- This step generates the OTP, which you will receive on your mobile phone
- Now, you need to enter your phone number
- Here, you are asked to give consent to your operator to pick your name, photo and date of birth from UIDAI data base
- The IVR now mentions the last four digits of your number to confirm that you have keyed in the right number
- If the number is correct, you can enter the OTP you received on SMS
- You must press 1 to complete the Aadhaar-mobile number re-verification process
- If you hold another phone number, you can link that too by pressing 2 and following the steps provided by the IVR system. Keep your other mobile phone handy as you will receive the OTP on this number
The OTP you receive for Aadhaar-mobile phone re-verification is valid for 30 minutes, so you can use it even there is some network glitch and the call terminates prematurely. Subscribers who are on corporate plans do not need to need to undergo the re-verification process. So far, Airtel, Idea, and Vodafone have activated the service. Since Jio takes Aadhaar number to activate the SIM card, subscribers do not need to re-verify on the network.
As Aadhaar is a central number, Airtel and Vodafone say users can link their mobile numbers to Aadhaar irrespective of the state it is issued in and the circle the number belongs to. However, Idea Cellular in a tweet said the Aadhaar number should belong to the same circle as the mobile number. Aircel has not started the IVR process, and is still asking users to go to offline stores even after the new centralised number has been deployed.
In late November, telecom operators had also been directed to set up a website so that subscribers can link Aadhaar and mobile number online. However, there is no such website so far. Going by the image in a tweet by the Digital India Twitter account, it seems users will be able to link the two using the mAadhaar app, which is available only for Android so far, as well in some time.
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