The government mandate of reverifying mobile number with Aadhaar has caused a bit of difficulty for senior citizens, physically challenged persons and non-resident Indians. Either they don’t have an Aadhaar number because the scanners were not been able to register their biometrics or doesn’t have their Aadhaar registered mobile number.
State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has now introduced a simplified re-verification of mobile numbers for NRIs, Senior Citizens and Physically Challenged Persons. The online web-based application can be used from anywhere and at any time for re-verifying BSNL SIMs.
Who can opt for BSNL online re-verification process? According to the telco, the service can be used by NRIs, Senior Citizens above 70 years as on 1st January 2018, and Physically Challenged Persons, who do not have Aadhaar Number, or have Aadhaar number but they have not registered their mobile number with the Aadhaar (so can’t receive an OTP for UIDAI).
BSNL Re-Verification of SIMs – Initial step
- To start BSNL online re-verification of mobile number, head to BSNL portal. If already existing customer sign-in directly or New users signup at BSNL portal.
- Once logged-in, select the option (NRI, Senior Citizens or Physically Challenged Persons) suitable to your need and enter the BSNL mobile number that needs to be reverified.
- An OTP will be sent to the BSNL mobile number that’s been verified. Enter the OTP in the web page to proceed to the next step.
- Here you may need to fill a form which asks for your personal details. The fields include your full name, date of birth, permanent address and pin code. For NRI customer, they need to provide their Indian Passport number.
- Once completed, you now need to upload requisite documents for validation. This includes a recent photo, date of birth supporting document, address proof, disability certificate (for Physically Challenged Persons), Passport pages, visa pages (for NRI customers).
- Once the documents are submitted, a transaction ID will be generated and will be shared by SMS. This transaction ID will be valid for 48 hours.
The Trusted Person with AAdhaar
- You now need to share the above-obtained transaction ID and Mobile number (which need to be re-verified) with a known person (named as Trusted Person) like your Son, Daughter etc. The Trusted Person should have an Aadhaar number registered with a mobile number (ARMN) and willing to share his/her Aadhaar number for the verification of mobile number.
- Now this Trusted Person need to head over to the BSNL Portal Tursted Person section, enter the Mobile number (that need to be verified) and transaction ID which is shared.
- The Trusted Person will be shown the details entered by the other person.
- The Trusted Person now need to give his/her consent and submit their Aadhaar number.
- An OTP will be sent to the Aadhaar Registered Mobile Number. This need to be entered into the BSNL portal for validation.
- An SMS will be also sent to your mobile number (BSNL mobile number that’s been verified) for completion of the re-verification process.
Final verification from BSNL local circle admin
- Once the above process is complete, the entered details will be sent for verification to the BSNL local circle administration.
- If the circle administrator verifies/approves the details, your BSNL mobile number will be fully re-verified. You will also get an SMS regarding the successful completion of the re-verification process.
The above process is one of the three methods suggested by Department of Telecommunication (DoT) to perform e-KYC for mobile number re-verification. Recently, telecom operators also rolled out short code configured with an IVRS system for re-verification of mobile subscribers with Aadhaar.