Id verification failure resulting in service denial

The users of the People First Citizen (PFC) mobile application launched by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu recently are apparently facing teething problems due to the ‘Aadhaar’ linkage. At a time when linking of the unique identification number has been made mandatory for services like banking and mobile services, the State government which integrated the citizen details with the Aadhaar data has made Aadhaar-based verification, eKYC, mandatory for the users of the PFC app.

“Ensure that your mobile number and email Id are updated in the Aadhaar portal for login. In case your details are not updated, please approach the nearest Aadhaar enrollment centre or Mee Seva centre to update the details. It is important for knowing any details of government (benefit) provided to you or know your service request status,” a note on the app tells its users.

Unlike other public grievance apps like PuraSeva, the PFC, through which grievances related to all the government departments could be reported, does verification through Aadhaar at the very beginning stage and bars those without a proper UID and a valid phone number from using all services, including registration of grievances. However, availability of complete user profile and access to all certificates is the greatest advantage for the users. Some of them feel that Aadhaar eKYC could be made optional while basic verification is done through mobile number and email.

“Aadhaar is mandatory here. It is good but so many Aadhaar numbers do not have mobile numbers. Instead of Aadhaar verification, user profile with email Id is better. Later on, we can verify Aadhaar (sic),” a user Adinarayana Kosuvaripalli wrote on Google Play store. Many other users have complained of ‘Aadhaar not surveyed’ error and having lost the phone numbers registered with the Aadhaar. Delay in receiving the OTP has also largely been reported by the users.

The app, however, garnered quick response since its launch on September 20. It has been downloaded by at least 5,000 users.