Recently, telecom operator Airtel partnered with quick commerce platform Blinkit for the 10 minute delivery of SIM cards. However, the service was suspended after DoT (Department of Telecom) barred Airtel from offering this service on the grounds on national security.As reported by the Economic Times, DoT had an objection to the idea of customers undertaking self-KYC authentication.
Operation Sindoor
“The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked Bharti Airtel to ensure that the Aadhaar-based know-your customer (KYC) authentication exercise is concluded before the actual delivery of SIM cards at customer homes, in keeping with current government regulations,” a person aware of the matter said. Now, a new report by Economic Times suggests that Reliance Jio was also planning a similar feature.
Reliance Jio halts plan of home delivery of SIM cards
As reported by Economic Times, Reliance Jio was also planning to start a similar service like Airtel and deliver SIM cards to users. In a letter seen by ET, Reliance informed DoT secretary Neeraj Mittal on April 16, that it is planning to start quick home delivery of SIM cards starting April 25.“Airtel’s initiate enhances customer convenience in sprint with the government’s policy for adoption customer-friendly processes. We shall also be launching a similar initiative with effect from April 25,” Reliance Jio said in its letter to DoT. However, the Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom operator decided to halt its plan after DoT objected to the idea on security grounds. DoT objected to the idea of self-KYC authentication after home delievery of SIMs or mobile connections.Along with this, DoT has also asked all the telecom operators to make sure that Aadhaar based self-KYC customer authentication is done before delivering an active SIM card to customers’ home. As a result of this directive Reliance Jio has also put its plan of quick delivery of SIM cards on hold.