Days after the Union Cabinet announced reforms in the telecom sector impacting both companies and users, the department of telecommunications issued a series of orders to implement “contactless, customer-centric and secured KYC processes.” A mobile subscriber has to undergo in-person KYC processes for a new mobile connection or converting prepaid connection to postpaid or vice-versa. The reforms have been brought in to digitise KYC processes and make subscriber acquisition completely online.
“Online service delivery has become an acceptable norm in the recent past and most of the customer services are being offered through internet with OTP{ authentication. Contactless services in the Covid era needs to be promoted for subscriber convenience and also for ease of doing business,” the department said in a statement.
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Here’s are the new orders issued for immediate implementation:
Aadhaar based e-KYC
This process has been re-introduced for issuing new mobile connections and the UIDAI will charge telecom service providers ₹ 1/- per customer authentication. In this complete paperless and digital process, UIDAI will provide TSPs with demographic details along with the picture of the customer online.
Self-KYC
{{/usCountry}}Self-KYC
{{/usCountry}}Under this process, customers can apply for a mobile connection online and get the SIM delivered at their doorstep using documents electronically verified by UIDAI or DigiLocker.
OTP-based conversion
Existing subscribers will be able to convert their mobile connection from prepaid to postpaid and vice-versa via OTP based authentication. The request for conversion may be sent via, SMS, IVRS, website or authorised app of the TSP. The disruption of services due to the conversion should not exceed 30 minutes, according to the new order. The subscriber will be allowed to re-covert only after 90 days of the previous conversion.