At a time when enrolling the prescribed 40 crore more residents of the country for the aadhaar numbers has begun, Nandan Nilekani-led unique identification authority (UID) has tested an application by which it can send out aadhaar numbers through the short message service (sms) to those who are enrolled but have not received their numbers.

The UID has collaborated with the department of information technology (DIT) at the centre through leasing of a line especially dedicated to send out aadhaar numbers on the mobile phones of those who have registered their mobile numbers with the authority.

As many as ten crore residents are yet to receive their aadhaar numbers even after enrolling with the authority seven to eight months ago. There were complaints from the Confederation of Senior Citizens Association of India that people have not received their numbers even eight months after the enrollment.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the authority plans to dispatch the remaining letters by the end of June 2012. The authority in January 2012, concluded the first phase of its enrollment process where it has issues 16,38,70,342 numbers. It has the mandate to enroll another 40 crore by the end of 2014.

The linking of mobile phone numbers during the time of application, according to UIDAI, is essential as “It will help in authentication of a person seeking a public service such as opening a bank account or applying for a ration card."