NEW DELHI: Payments services
major Suvidha Infoserve has proposed paperless e-KYC service for the telecom
sector to check the menace of illegal sim cards and fast-track issuance of
genuine mobile connections.The Rs 8,000-crore company, which was founded by
Mumbai-based entrepreneur Paresh Rajde in 2007 with angel funding by
construction tycoon Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, is currently in talks with top
telecom service providers and expects to soon begin implementing the e-KYC for
the sector.
The investors in Suvidha
Infoserve, which has also applied for a payments bank licence, include Norvest
Ventures Partners, World Bank Group's International Finance Corp, Mitsui &
Co and Reliance Venture Asset Management.Present in the payment and remittance
space, Suvidha Infoserve calls itself an s-commerce or service-commerce firm.
It is an aggregator of multiple services like utility bill collection,
insurance premium, mobile and DTH recharge, travel tickets, money transfer
services on a single platform through a network of 65,000 franchise outlets.
Suvidha is now planning to offer
paperless e-KYC service for the telecom sector, which is estimated to have 100
crore mobile subscribers.It recently launched a pre-paid card in association
with Axis Bank where pre-paid cards can be issued and activated within few
minutes using the e-KYC model.
"The new e-KYC system should
become operational in select circles by the year-end," Suvidha chairman
Paresh Rajde said.It will use the applicant's Aadhaar number and biometric data
for the KYC authentication from UIDAI and confirmation will be given through
encrypted file to the telecom service provider immediately."As a result,
the applicant will get activation in real time," Rajde said, while adding
that the application would be rejected too in real time in the case of mismatch
in data.
"It will not only reduce the
circulation of fake sim cards, but also considerably reduce the processing time
of telecom companies. In other words, it will improve both the efficiency and
bottom-lines of telecom operators," Rajde said.
According to reports, the
Department of Telecom imposed Rs 2,800 crore in penalties in 2007-12 on mobile
operators for issuing sim cards on the basis of fake identity documents."We
are in discussions with the country's top telecom service providers and hopeful
to finalize the deal shortly. Going by the initial response from these telecom
operators, we are hopeful of implementing e-KYC by the year-end in a few circles,
to begin with," Rajde said.
At present, an applicant needs to
submit various documents including residential proof and photo ID with the
retail outlet of telecom service providers for verification.The retailer
forwards these documents to the respective service providers and the final
verification is done by telecom companies. The verification takes anything
between 12 hours to a few days depending on the location of the retailer. In
metros, the activation is done within a few hours while in remote areas, it
takes at least a few days.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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