R.S. Sharma, Chairperson, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
The government admitted that it had lied to the public about the Supreme Court mandating that our mobile phone numbers be linked to our Aadhaar numbers.
Well, now that the truth is out, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) needs to tell our telecom companies -- “Stop asking subscribers to link their mobile phones to their Aadhaar number.”
For more than a year, you, me and a billion of our fellow citizens have been receiving messages from the likes of Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance regarding “mandatory” linking. Many of us also had a difficult time in purchasing a SIM card. Did you know that at some places even foreigners were asked to provide their Aadhaar card to purchase SIM cards?
The Supreme Court finally gave us some clarity on this matter. The court says that Aadhaar is just one of the MANY verification options, and not the only one.
Until the case of Aadhaar’s constitutional validity is completely heard, telecom companies should not jump the gun and harass individuals by asking them to link their Aadhaar number. And this directive should come from TRAI, the body that regulates India’s telecom sector.
It has been seven years since the first challenges to the Aadhaar project surfaced. Since then Aadhaar has been riddled with a host of issues -- privacy, data theft, and data being used for nefarious reasons. We should hand over our personal information only when we are assured that our data is safe.
And that’s why the TRAI needs to tell telecom operators to wait. The last time Jhatkaa.org supporters like you took their collective voices to the TRAI, they banned differential pricing, a practice that clearly violated net neutrality. This gives us hope that they will listen to us again. But we need to show our strength in numbers and hence we want you to sign this petition.
So the next time you visit your mobile service provider to recharge your phone and they ask you to link your mobile number to your Aadhaar number, tell them this, “I’ve read the news. The Supreme Court has not mandated this linking. Please recharge my phone.”
References:
At the very end of SC’s Aadhaar hearings, government admits it has been dishonest all along: Scroll
Telecom companies ignore SC, pester users on Aadhaar link: Times of India
Constitutional validity of Aadhaar: the arguments in Supreme Court so far: The Hindu
Jhatkaa.org’s campaign on net neutrality
R.S. Sharma, Chairperson, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
The government admitted that it had lied to the public about the Supreme Court mandating that our mobile phone numbers be linked to our Aadhaar numbers.
Well, now that the truth is out, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) needs to tell our telecom companies -- “Stop asking subscribers to link their mobile phones to their Aadhaar number.”
For more than a year, you, me and a billion of our fellow citizens have been receiving messages from the likes of Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance regarding “mandatory” linking. Many of us also had a difficult time in purchasing a SIM card. Did you know that at some places even foreigners were asked to provide their Aadhaar card to purchase SIM cards?
The Supreme Court finally gave us some clarity on this matter. The court says that Aadhaar is just one of the MANY verification options, and not the only one.
Until the case of Aadhaar’s constitutional validity is completely heard, telecom companies should not jump the gun and harass individuals by asking them to link their Aadhaar number. And this directive should come from TRAI, the body that regulates India’s telecom sector.
It has been seven years since the first challenges to the Aadhaar project surfaced. Since then Aadhaar has been riddled with a host of issues -- privacy, data theft, and data being used for nefarious reasons. We should hand over our personal information only when we are assured that our data is safe.
And that’s why the TRAI needs to tell telecom operators to wait. The last time Jhatkaa.org supporters like you took their collective voices to the TRAI, they banned differential pricing, a practice that clearly violated net neutrality. This gives us hope that they will listen to us again. But we need to show our strength in numbers and hence we want you to sign this petition.
So the next time you visit your mobile service provider to recharge your phone and they ask you to link your mobile number to your Aadhaar number, tell them this, “I’ve read the news. The Supreme Court has not mandated this linking. Please recharge my phone.”
References:
At the very end of SC’s Aadhaar hearings, government admits it has been dishonest all along: Scroll
Telecom companies ignore SC, pester users on Aadhaar link: Times of India
Constitutional validity of Aadhaar: the arguments in Supreme Court so far: The Hindu
Jhatkaa.org’s campaign on net neutrality