According to IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, 71.24 crore mobiles connections have been linked with the the 12-Digit Aadhaar number. The deadline for re-verification and linking of mobile SIM cards with Aadhaar has been extended to March 31.
If information from the Indian IT Ministry is to be believed, 71.24 crore mobile connections are now linked to Aadhaar, the biometrics-based unique identification number.
"As on December 8, 2017, 71.24 crore mobile numbers (new and re-verified) and 82 crore bank accounts have been linked with Aadhaar,” Minister for Electronics and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad informed the Rajya Sabha.
The deadline for linking of Aadhaar to mobile SIMs has been extended by the Supreme Court to March 31, 2018. A constitutional bench of the apex court will also be hearing 28 writ petitions challenging the need for linking Aadhaar to various services on January 17, 2018.
Meanwhile, telecom companies have also been given an extension for providing OTP-based linking of Aadhaar with Mobile SIMs. The deadline has been extended to January 1 after the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) wrote to UIDAI stating that the December 1 deadline was not feasible. Once telcos start rolling out OTP based Aadhaar verification for mobile connections, users will no longer need to visit physical stores to complete the process. Telecom operators are also expected to make the linking process simpler through other app-based and IVRS methods.
Just to clarify, it is currently NOT mandatory to link Mobile SIMs with Aadhaar numbers. A large group of activists have been fighting the government’s directive stating privacy concerns and India’s inability to secure Aadhaar information.
The Supreme Court noted on June 9, 2017 that the Aadhaar scheme is “purely voluntary” and cannot be made mandatory. “Provided that if an Aadhaar number is not assigned to an individual, the individual shall be offered alternate and viable means of identification for delivery of the subsidy, benefit or service,” the court further noted.
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