The telcos said that while they would submit their proof of concept for the new digital process by November 5, it would not be feasible to stop Aadhaar-based e-KYC.

Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm started rolling out a new customer authentication system as the Department of Telecommunications rejected a request to extend the November 5 deadline to implement an alternative process after the Supreme Court barred them from using Aadhaar for this purpose.However, officials at the telcos said they were also continuing with the Aadhaar-based electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) process for new customers while bringing in the alternative digital system.“The new digital KYC process is live and is being rolled out nationally. DoT instructions allow for provisional rollout of digital KYC and Vodafone Idea, India’s leading telecom service provider, is the first to commence this,” the telco said in a statement Monday.Sources said Vodafone Idea has already given demos to the DoT twice and has shared details of the process with all stakeholders, including the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which manages the Aadhaar for the government.“Airtel has rolled out the alternative digital process for onboarding new customers in six to seven markets, including Delhi, UP East and UP West, and the exercise will be implemented across its circles rapidly,” a senior industry executive said.“Jio is implementing the alternative digital KYC process in multiple circles,” a person aware of the development said.Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.The new process is paperless and consists of a customer acquisition form embedded with photographs of subscribers and scanned images of their address proof and identity cards.Last week, the Cellular Operators Association of India had sought a 15-day extension from DoT to implement the new digital KYC, during which time they asked to be allowed to also run the Aadhaar-based authentication process.“We are no one to decide on an extension. If operators want any extension, it has to come from UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). We are just following SC orders,” said a DoT official who did not want to be identified. The DoT is expected to meet the telcos on Wednesday to discuss the matter.The telcos said that while they would submit their proof of concept for the new digital process by November 5, it would not be feasible to stop Aadhaar-based e-KYC by that date because operators had to reach out to millions of retail stores, many in far-flung areas.The industry body had assured the DoT that telcos had “completely stopped” Aadhaar-based re-verification of older subscribers, as per the directives a week ago following the Supreme Court order of September 26 barring private entities from using the 12-digit unique ID for digital authentication.The apex court’s order meant that Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea would have to revert to the more time-taking and costlier means of physically verifying subscriber details until the alternative method is implemented.Until the court struck down the use of Aadhaar biometric data by private entities, telcos had onboarded more than 90% of their new subscribers using the unique ID, although some people avoided furnishing the biometric ID due to fears of data leakage.More than 500 million, or about half of India’s mobile phone users, have linked their Aadhaar to their phone numbers.