Government considering alternatives to Aadhaar for verifying mobile connections: Report

A news report quoted an "official source" as saying the government is "ready to explore other options."

IndiaToday.in | Edited by Ganesh Kumar Radha Udayakumar

New Delhi, October 26, 2017 | 

Are you unhappy - like Mamata Banerjee - with the government's decision to make Aadhar-mobile linking mandatory?

Good news: The government is "ready to explore other options," the Times of India reported quoting "an official source" who wasn't named.

And would you be more comfortable using - say - your ration card or driver's license? The source told the newspaper the government is "looking at" whether citizens can use such alternatives," but also that there had been no "final call" yet.

What's more, any such move "must be in conformity with the mandate laid down by the Supreme Court," said TOI's source - who added that the goverment would "wait to see" how the top court responds to a recent plea against the notification on Aadhar-mobile linking.

On February 6, the Supreme Court had asked the the Centre to put in place - within a year - an effective mechanism for scrutinising details about the identities of over 100 crore existing and future mobile telephone consumers.

Mobile phone users in India started receiving messages informing them that the government had made it mandatory for mobile phone numbers to be linked to Aadhaar, and that their numbers would be deactivated if this wasn't done. The deadline: February 6, 2018.

On Tuesday, Tehseen Poonawala filed a plea in the top court seeking the quashing of the Department of Telecom's notification.

A day later, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Centre was "interfering with people's rights and privacy."

"Aadhaar number should not be linked with mobile phone. I will not link my Aadhaar number with my mobile even if my connection is snapped," she told her Trinamool Congress colleagues at an extended core committee meeting.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court declared that privacy is a fundamental right. A nine-judge bench unanimously said the right to privacy is an "intrinsic part of life and liberty" of an individual. Another bench will soon decide on the validity of Aadhaar.