Govt rubbishes reports of 50 crore mobile numbers facing disconnection, calls them 'untrue' and 'imaginary'
India TV NewsRubbishing a news report claiming around 50 crore mobile phone numbers are at risk of disconnection, the Centre on Thursday said it is "completely untrue and imaginary". Assuaging the panic created by the news, the Ministry of Communications said the news report tries to create unnecessary panic among mobile users by claiming that 'they stare at a prospect of disconnection if SIM cards procured on the basis of Aadhaar verification are not backed by a fresh identification'. In a joint statement, the Department of Telecommunications and Unique Identification Authority of India clarified that the Supreme Court in its judgement on Aadhaar has nowhere directed to disconnect mobile numbers issued through Aadhaar eKYC. What the Supreme Court has done is that it has prohibited issue of new SIM cards through Aadhaar eKYC authentication process due to lack of a law, the joint statement said adding "there is no direction to deactivate the old mobile phones".