Airtel — Mobile SIM subscriber name change has suddenly become too complex.

On Thursday 16th October, 2025 I finally managed to get a friend to pick up a representative from the Airtel showroom located very near the Adyar depot (Chennai metro underground terminal construction ongoing near this showroom). While I was very grateful both to my friend and the Airtel showroom representative for their kindness to visit me for the final verification step, I was stumped by the phone camera A.I. not being able to capture a photo due to the background not being white enough !!! White walls, white doors notwithstanding her app camera facial recognition A.I. was simply not kicking into action. It was already nightfall and in addition to the hall lights I had my friend shine his LED phone torch full on my face but to no avail. A sparkling white background was a must. Since my health was not good, I was getting dizzy and exhausted while we all struggled to get her app to take a photo. (I had not been keeping well since the lockdown years).

I humbly request Bharti Airtel to not overly complicate the verification process with A.I. dead ends like this and issue my SIM immediately after taking a simple photo with the default camera app. We are all not terrorists. A SIM is an essential service and should be issued in days. I had to wait for this day for weeks because I was waiting for my friend to get free time from his job and the showroom representative also had to agree for a doorstep visit. Now I don't know what to do. At this point I remember many people who had sincerely applied for their Aadhaar card a decade ago had died after being denied ration for weeks. Their biometrics were not being recognised by the system at the Civil supplies depot. A.I. should be a boon rather than a bane.