20 December,2010 07:36 AM IST | | Amit Singh and Shashank Shekhar
While several telecom subscribers have allegedly been facing harassment in the name of verification, companies are yet to act on the MiD DAY expose
Manu Jaiswal has been using his prepaid mobile connection for the past nine years. Suddenly his number got disconnected last Sunday. This was done despite his submitting necessary documents asked by telecom companies for verification. After running from pillars to post he managed to get back his connection. But all this took him two days.
Telecom companies have started disconnecting numbers active for years for failing to re-verify one's credentials. But subscribers feel that they are being harassed for no reason in the name of submitting documents. "I am into textile business and everyday I get hundred of calls. Due to this disconnect I had to immediately purchase new SIM card," Jaiswal complained.
Jaiswal is not the only one. There are hundreds of other subscribers whose numbers have allegedly been disconnected without any proper notice. Kanupriya, a student from Jharkhand, staying in the Capital for the last six years faced similar problems.
On Tuesday night when she picked up her phone to order some food from the market, she found that her mobile was not working. "When I enquired, I was told that I need to submit documents for re-verification. However I never got a call from the telecom company. Finally I submitted the documents and got my number reactivated."
In the first week of December MiD DAY carried a story showing how documents were forged to buy six different SIM cards from various telecom firms. Ironically even after publishing the story, the numbers remain functional. MID DAY managed to prepare four different fake driving licenses from a Noida computer shop.
"Rather than keeping an eye on subscribers, DoT must keep an eye on the verification process followed by the telecom companies. Verification doesn't mean just collecting documents. There should be a set standard for verification so that there is no need for re-verification in future. In the current scenario all numbers would again need to be verified after five years," said Manish, a bank employee, who went through the same trauma.u00a0
u00a0All the six connections purchased by MiD DAY are still active and no verification has been done by any of the companies.
The three numbers purchased were 8860104338 (SIM no. 89911100180002633478), 8826285068 (SIM no. 8991101001178675631) and 9718983298 (SIM no. 89910480710221438028) from Vodafone, Airtel and Idea respectively in one person's name. The other numbers purchased were 8860680421 (SIM no. 89911100180014781372) from Vodafone, 8527388902 (SIM no. 8991101002182891057) from Airtel and 9540527657 (SIM no. 89910464041027179057) from Idea in the names of Sanjoy Mukherjee, Sunil Bharti and Kumar Mangalam respectively on November 16.
The telecom companies, which had in the 90s issued mobile connections, without following strict identification norms, requested the DoT to allow them to rectify their records so that they do not keep on paying heavy penalty.
They asked the department to give them some time for re-verification of their records. Thereafter, DoT gave telecom operators time till December 31, 2010 to re-verify credentials of mobile subscribers, maintaining that correct records with the operators is also in national interest.
| Safety first |
| In a move prompted by security concerns, the government has proposed much tougher norms for the issue and verification of new mobile connections. |
