What is this all about?
We all in India know by now that government has mandated us to verify our phone numbers using Aadhaar details. Everyone has been facing problems while carrying out the process and many have been waiting for the online OTP based process. The government announced this process in November 2017. But the service providers had not yet rolled it out. The service is now live with many providers and has been tested by me on Vodafone. So here’s the process.
Follow the Steps
- Dial 14546 using the mobile number which you want to verify. It helps to keep your mobile in speakerphone mode or using earphones. Ensure you are in a place where no one overhears your details.
- The IVR will ask you to select an option depending on whether you are a resident Indian or an NRI. Choose the appropriate option
- You will need to provide your consent to link the mobile number with your Aadhaar number
- Enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number when the IVR prompts.
- Press 1 to confirm when the IVR asks you to do so.
- DO NOT HANG UP at this point.
- You will receive an OTP number on your device.
- Meanwhile the IVR will readout a declaration regarding your consent to link Aadhaar to your Number.
- At the end of declaration, you will have to confirm as directed. Then Enter the OTP
- Press 1 to complete the Aadhaar re-verification process
- If you have another phone number that you wish to get re-verified, follow the instructions. However, make sure that you have the phone nearby as you will need to enter the OTP received on the number to re-verified it.
The process and IVR prompts may vary with other service providers, but this is the gist of how it goes on.
Point to Note
People have been confused between linking Aadhaar with mobile and linking Mobile to Aadhaar. These two, though may sound same, are totally different. When you link your mobile phone to Aadhaar, it means you are entering the phone number in the Aadhaar Database. The phone number will appear in the Aadhaar data. You will also be using this phone number linked to Aadhaar for availing Aadhaar services like Aadhaar based Authentication.
Linking Aadhaar to you mobile is something totally different. Here you use your Aadhaar to verify to the service provider that you are using the phone number. The service provider can fetch this details to identify you anytime in future.