This portal works as a safeguard, as citizens can report mobile numbers that they no longer use or that they don’t recognize so as to prevent any fraud.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) recently launched a new web portal that allows users to check their mobile phones or more specifically the numbers issued in their name. This new initiative, which has been dubbed the ‘Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection’ (TAFCOP), is a portal that citizens can use to check the sim cards that have been issued against their registered Aadhaar card. According to the rules and regulations of the Department of Telecommunications, a single citizen can have up to 9 mobile numbers connected to a single Aadhaar card.
This portal works as a safeguard, as citizens can report mobile numbers that they no longer use or that they don’t recognize so as to prevent any fraudulent activity on their Aadhaar card-related facilities.
The ‘About’ section of the TAFCOP portal reads: “Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has taken several measures to ensure proper allocation of telecom resources by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to subscribers and protect their interests in ensuring reduction of frauds. As per existing guidelines, individual mobile subscribers can register up to nine mobile connections in their name.”
The portal also says, “This website has been developed to help subscribers, check the number of mobile connections working in their name, and take necessary action for regularising their additional mobile connections if any. However, the primary responsibility of handling the Customer Acquisition Form (CAF) lies with the service providers.”
Here is the step-by-step process of how you can check to see and verify the mobile numbers registered against your Aadhaar card:
Step 1: Visit the TAFCOP website at (https://tafcop.dgtelecom.gov.in/)
Step 2: Enter your mobile number and click on request OTP (One-Time Password)
Step 3: The Department of Telecommunications will then send you the OTP to the mobile number via SMS so that you can validate yourself and sign in to the portal.
Step 4: Sign in to the portal.
Step 5: You will be redirected to a page where you can view all the different mobile numbers that have been linked to your specific Aadhaar card. In the event you see numbers that you don’t recognize or have since been out of use by you, you can report them so that they can be removed from your Aadhaar card.
Over the past few months, the Aadhaar issuing authority, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has taken several steps to make the process of handling Aadhaar related services easier for cardholders. These updates include making it easier for the cardholder to update certain information on the Aadhaar card, including the mobile number. With the recent changes, the Indian Post Payments Bank (IPPB) can now update it for you as well. The IPPB announced that it is the launch service for updating one’s registered phone number in Aadhaar, through the postman at the client’s doorstep. The IPPB is doing this as a Registrar for the UIDAI.
The two entities have joined hands to offer this unique and effective service that will enable postmen to conduct the update process at your doorstep. The IPPB said that the service will be made available through an extensive network of around 650 IPPB branches and 146,000 postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS). The entities have also provided the postmen with the adequate technology and hardware to carry this out as they will carry with their smartphone and biometric devices according to a statement made by the Ministry.
Currently, the postal service is only helping with the updating of numbers for Aadhaar, soon the aim is that they will start helping families enrol their children for the Aadhaar card.
