Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecom provider launched a Proof of Concept (PoC) for use of Aadhaar as valid Proof of Identity (PoI) & Proof of Address (PoA) using the Aadhaar online authentication procedure in Andhra Pradesh for new Vodafone connection. The service is initially being launched at Vodafone Stores at S.P. Road in Hyderabad and Bandar Road at Vijayawada. This initiative will ensure instant validation and activation of prepaid and postpaid connections, thus making it convenient for customers and saving time.
The launch function was attended by top dignitaries of Government of India from DoT, UIDAI, TRAI, and the TERM cells of Andhra Pradesh along with key officials from Vodafone India.
“We are very proud and delighted to be the chosen ASA for rolling out this unique initiative as per DoT’s directive. This will make the process of getting a new connection easy for our customers and reduce the time involved in activating the number. We, at Vodafone, believe in delivering secure and differentiated service to our customers and this partnership is one more step in this direction.” said .
Vodafone now also the official Authentication Service Agency (ASA) and Authentication User Agency (AUA) of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and is all set to issue new connections in Andhra Pradesh using just the Aadhaar letters as per the Department of Telecom’s (DoT) directive. An ASA (Authentication Service Agency) is an entity plays the role of enabling intermediaries and transmits authentication requests to the Central Identity Data Repository (CIDR) for UIDAI. An AUA is the principal agency that sends authentication requests to enable its services / business functions.
Customers now can use Aadhaar card as Proof of Identity and Proof of Address. The bar code on the Aadhaar letter will be scanned and after authentication the customer will be required to establish identity in real-time with a biometric authentication. Once this is done, a message authenticating the customer will be sent from UIDAI which will be used as proof of verification. The entire process will just take a few minutes.