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Sunday, 14 September 2025

Lost in Saral Sanchar

Licence Migration or A Bureaucratic Trap?

All my regular work collapsed the moment I saw that Department of Telecommunication Office Memorandum. It landed like a brick on my desk two weeks ago. I had my deadlines set, my plans neat and clear, but this notice pulled the plug. Suddenly my life was not about writing or work, but about surviving the Saral Sanchar portal.

The memorandum, dated 11 March 2025, ordered all licensed ham operators to migrate their certificates to this sparkling new online system before 15 September 2025. A clean digital push, they said. In reality, it was like asking us to wade through a swamp with leeches tied to our legs.


I saw the circular in a WhatsApp ham group. Oddly enough, the discussions there were muted. Maybe people were already too tired to rant.

Ham radio is no joke. It has been a lifeline in floods, quakes, cyclones. When phones die and networks collapse, ham operators keep authorities connected. No money, no perks. Pure service. And now, the very community that serves in crisis is itself in crisis,  thanks to a half-baked portal.

I logged in. Made an account. Took a quick glance at the migration tab. It looked like a puzzle dumped on a child. I still tried. Failed. Then flagged my frustration to fellow hams. Messages poured in. Some confused, some angry, some downright hilarious. “Why migrate at all?” one asked. “It’s tedious, I won't migrate,” groaned another. Someone said they managed to upload but were told to resubmit. Another gem: “Only Aadhaar needs attestation by a gazetted officer.”

Then came the manuals. One was 20 pages, the other 39. So apparently, to move my licence from one digital shelf to another, I must first pass an exam in patience and eyesight.

It wasn’t just me. Many were shaken, stuck, lost. Some tried helping others through remote screen-sharing. Some behaved like self-appointed WPC officers, flaunting their “cheat sheets” on WhatsApp. They were helpful until arrogance starts. A comedy show, but with more tears than laughs.

I reached out to the help desk. Their replies were slower than snail mail. And useless. Templates copied and pasted. Nothing addressed my problem. The portal itself was clunky, cryptic, allergic to common sense. No tooltips, no guidance, just endless trial and error. At one point, I begged them to delete my account so I could restart.


And then came the monster called attestation. Out of nowhere, hams were told to run behind gazetted officers to stamp Aadhaar cards. When the government itself says self-attestation is fine, why this madness? Why drag us back to the days of stamps and seals? To prove we exist, again and again?

Anyone who has tried approaching a gazetted officer knows the drill. Excuses, delays, smirks. I even recalled an old story. Years ago, when MTNL asked for attested IDs, I approached my uncle, a senior government officer. His reply? “How do I know you’re not a criminal?” I shot back: “I didn’t come for a character certificate. Your job is to match photocopy with the original and sign.” He finally did, after the drama. That’s what attestation culture looks like. Power, not purpose.

Meanwhile, other government services are years ahead. When I renewed my driving licence in Delhi, Aadhaar OTP was enough. Fast, simple, painless. Yet for ham radio migration, we are forced to perform clerical duties that WPC staff should be doing.

Office Memorandum: Typically meant for internal govt communication, not public dissemination. Yet, used here to coerce compliance via WhatsApp groups.

There’s also the strange legal twist. The 11 March 2025 note was an Office Memorandum, meant as an internal instruction. Not even a circular for public circulation. Yet hams are being coerced into compliance. And not a single direct email or SMS to licence holders, even though WPC has our details. Instead, whispers in WhatsApp groups. A mess created out of thin air.

At one point, I almost thought of quitting amateur radio altogether. The frustration was that heavy. A hobby rooted in freedom and service is now buried under paperwork, passwords, and pointless hurdles.

Saral Sanchar was supposed to make life easier. It has only made life smaller. A portal where time dies, humour struggles to stay alive, and passion for radio drowns in bureaucracy.

I’ll keep documenting this circus. Maybe one day someone in power will read, laugh nervously, and fix it. Until then, migration feels less like a system update and more like punishment for being a ham in India.

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17 comments:

  1. Yes the pain in unbearable,never seen such complicated process,well the final humiliation is to get Gazetted office signature,iam giving up.

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  2. For sure, they could have done this better, making it easier for folks to migrate. Also, it is unclear what happens to those who don't migrate. There are speculations/fear mongering that license will be invalid. I did not read anything to that effect. Maybe today, it is free, later could be against a fee or late penalty etc.
    This is still better than Equatorial Guinea where they overnight revoked all amateur radio license.
    73

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  3. It has made me feel like a computer illitarate. ( Or what an idiot I am.) After filling up the form with the help of a fellow ham. I thought of helping others who are older than me or not regular computer users. I couldn't because there are too many sensitive information as to is password of email etc to be given to me other than that they to handover their physical phone to get the paaawords etc. I could help those who had computers at their disposal and had some knowledge on how to make or read their emails only. I Could .

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  4. Many has are using online tools to resize images, PDFs and signature. Data may get leaked.

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  5. Not being very computer literate, I found it not too complicated, although a little cumbersome, it takes not more than 15m to complete the submission. Of course you need to have the necessary documents ready

    I have been supporting hams requiring assistance remotely

    Gazetted officer attestation although an effort is not impossible

    Migration is not just a process of digitization of existing documents. It is an exercise to update latest documents into our records. More like the KYC update in Banks every few years

    Am available for support if anyone needs 🙏

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  6. Thanks Madhu for the assistance

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  7. Amid all the buzz and worry surrounding the Saral Sanchar migration, I want to reach out and offer a word of calm reassurance.
    The process is certainly new, and for many of us, anything digital can feel overwhelming at first glance. However, it’s important not to read too much into the complexity. The Department of Telecommunications has designed the migration for all valid licence holders, and there are clear instructions and support available. No fees are charged for this step, and upon successful migration, your certificate is digitally authenticated and fully valid—nothing about your status or eligibility changes, just the format.[arsi +1]
    A few bumps and quirks are to be expected anytime systems are upgraded. If you meet difficulties, reach out to fellow operators who have already migrated; several have found the journey easier than expected once they started. Take the process step by step, and don’t let frustration or rumours cloud your judgment.
    Let’s focus on keeping our community strong, helpful, and positive. Migration is just an update—not a test of your skills or commitment. Don’t let it dampen your passion for radio

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  8. remote screen-sharing. Some behaved like self-appointed WPC officers, flaunting their “cheat sheets” on WhatsApp. They were helpful until arrogance starts. A comedy show, but with more tears than laughs. Ha ha ha. The self appointed WPC officers !!! They are a plenty.

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  9. I think the biggest hurdle is the gazetted officers attestation. These so called officers, not only refuse to do the attestation, but also behave rudely and their body language indicates like we are criminal. Some words from their mouth "How do I know you are not a criminal?" "I am busy so I cannot do it now" . Infact one person did not even allow me to enter his box. And many are not found in their offices. I ask WPC officers, will they attest a document from a totally unknown person? I am sure they will also say same thing.

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  10. When i applied probably on the 5th day from the notification, all went fine till upload. Then after a month started pileup of scrutinized corrections. Fathers name, Adress, GPS data etc. I had not self attested the license, Gazetted attest Adhar and Pan card as it was not mentioned in the website initially when i had uploaded but now after a month, it was mentioned to be done. However it was all uploaded and got migrated in July. But one question in mind... Why is the word "License" replaced by "Certificate"..?

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  11. Why wasn't the migration process communicated clearly? I too struggled to figure it out. The Saral portal's lack of detailed information didn't help.

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  12. I too struggled figuring out

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  13. Badly made-up proces. I still have not finished migration, I am stuck!

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  14. I find it amusing that it came as a brick ?
    This information was there on all of the prominent WhatsApp groups and also telegram groups in India
    To me it’s a surprise that you found it as a brick
    I uploaded on 14th mid night without any issues there were many hams who did it and shared the information and also the site was almost self explanatory
    A ham who is supposed to own and operate wireless finding it difficult to get this uploaded ?
    And on attenuation or attestation
    I did not do it
    Let’s see what they have to say ?

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  15. Spot on, a great catch!I just saw the posts. Good intentions aside, this rollout didn't go well. An Office Memorandum is for internal use, not public. There's no single WA group for all VU Hams, and this is a Hobby, people check at their pace. Govt has our contacts via Aadhar; SMS/Email would have sufficed. Forced attestation and unclear Saral Sanchar instructions caused confusion, mostly due to overreach to WPC by a few fraternity members.

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  16. Kudos on your migration blog post! Your balanced approach had me chuckling while maintaining a respectful tone towards govt officials, fellow hams, and avoiding unnecessary controversy.

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  17. Couldn't agree more, all these issues stem from the overreach to WPC by a few Hams. An insightful article with a heavy doze of humour...

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