In the days after the regulation on verifying subscriber information took effect, many elderly people appeared confused, even worried when receiving notification messages from network operators.
Ms. Tran Thi Linh (70 years old, Hai Phong) said that she does not use a smartphone, only uses a basic phone to make calls, so she cannot authenticate herself. "I saw text messages saying to authenticate but I don't know how, and I'm also worried about being locked because this is a long-term number," Ms. Linh said.
This situation is quite common in the elderly group, especially those who are not used to using digital applications or do not have suitable devices to perform online authentication. Some people said they have to wait for their children and grandchildren to support or plan to go to the network operator's transaction point but have not been able to arrange time.
However, according to the provisions of Circular 08/2026/TT-BKHCN, the time for subscriber authentication is extended to a maximum of 2 months, from April 15 to the end of June 15, 2026. This means that subscribers who have not been authenticated immediately after April 15 will not be immediately handled.
After June 15, 2026, subscribers who have not completed authentication may be temporarily suspended from service according to the prescribed schedule.
The Circular requires subscribers to be cross-checked and fully verified with 4 information fields including personal identification number, full name, date of birth and biometric facial image data, ensuring compatibility with the national population database or ID database.
However, not all users have to redo it. Subscribers who have used it to register for a level 2 VNeID electronic identification account or have previously authenticated through scanning citizen identification chips, sharing data from VNeID before will not need to re-authentify.
According to the instructions, users can check their subscriber status through the network operator's application or on the VNeID application in the Document Wallet section to know which phone number is in their name.
In case of not using the application, people, especially the elderly, can go directly to the network operator's transaction point or contact the switchboard for help in searching and verifying information.
Verifying subscriber information is considered necessary to clean up telecommunications data, limit junk SIMs and protect users, in the context that phone numbers are increasingly associated with many important services such as bank accounts, electronic wallets and electronic identification.
