Vodafone, Airtel now allowing instant activation with Aadhar card

Idea Cellular too is reportedly planning a similar scheme.

Vodafone as well as Airtel are now allowing instant activation of SIM cards if users represent Aadhar card as a KYC document. As per Economic Times, Idea Cellular is also planning to follow suit but is yet to finalise the date.

Announcing Vodafone's instant activation scheme, Sandeep Kataria, director - commercial, Vodafone India said, "We are all set to delight customers with the benefits of the e-KYC led paperless process. Customers walking in for a new connection at our stores will walk out talking in just a few minutes. We had partnered with the Department of Telecom (DoT) to pilot the AADHAR based e-KYC solutions in and tested it successfully in two circles. Effective Wednesday, 24th August, we are rolling it out across the country. The use of e-KYC will drastically cut down on delays in activating new connections because of infrastructure challenges like power cuts, transporting volumes of paper, lack of photocopying and photography facilities. It will also strengthen the verification process as there will be no room for any manual error."

Vodafone India said that it has developed a special app that enables retailers to activate customers using e-KYC. "Beginning September 2016, this paperless validation and activation facility will be rolled out in all 10,000 plus Vodafone branded stores in urban and rural areas and also across all multi brand outlets, pan India, in a phased manner," Vodafone said in a press release.

The advantage of the e-KYC solution is manifold - it eliminates the need for paper based documentation, which often takes time to collate and submit, ensures better confidentiality and privacy of customer information and radically reduces the waiting time for a new connection, leading to an overall superior customer experience.