(a) whether the Government has directed all mobile companies to wrap up the re-verification of mobile users in various States including Tamil Nadu;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) the deadline fixed for the same; and
(d) the action taken and penalties imposed for violation of verification norms, company-wise?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 254 FOR 3RD AUGUST, 2016 REGARDING “RE-VERIFICATION OF MOBILE USERS”.
(a) to (c) Madam, re-verification of documents for existing mobile subscribers has been taken up by Department of Telecommunications (DoT) twice during the last ten years across the country including Tamil Nadu.
In November 2006, in order to ensure that the complete subscriber information is available with all the service providers and the same is duly verified, DoT had issued instructions that each Licensee should take up the re-verification of the existing subscribers on priority and to complete re-verification by 31.03.2007. By re-verification it was meant that there should be 100% check of Customer Acquisition Form (CAF), documentary proof of identity and documentary proof of address and it would be ensured that the subscriber information available in service provider’s database matches with that in CAF and enclosed documents. This was required as the same is being used by security agencies for traceability purposes. Further the licensee had to cross-verify the information from the actual user by calling the respective subscriber. There should not be any connection working after 31.03.2007 in the Licensee’s network without having above subscriber information duly verified.
In September 2009, on the instructions of DoT, the exercise of re-verification was again carried out by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) w.e.f from 01.11.2009 till 31.03.2011 so as to weed out the connection of unverified subscribers thus improving the security environment. At present, no re-verification is under way.
(d) Telecom Enforcement, Resource & Monitoring (TERM) Cells carry out sample verification of CAF and related documents of the acquired customers, by all TSPs, which brings out those non-compliant cases where the DoT guidelines pertaining to verification of subscribers were violated by TSPs in acquiring the customer. For all cases of non-compliant CAFs, TERM Cells have taken actions which include imposition of penalty on non-compliant CAFs and filing of complaints/FIRs against apparently forged cases as per guidelines issued from time to time. In addition, in case of non-compliant CAF, Service Provider has to either disconnect the connection or submit the compliant CAF to TERM Cells within 72 hrs.
The details of total financial penalty imposed on erring TSPs for violation of CAF verification norms as on 31.05.2016, TSP wise, are enclosed at Annexure-I.
Contd…3/-
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Annexure-I
TSP-wise details total financial penalty imposed on different TSPs for violation of CAF verification norms as on 31.05.2016
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Sr. No. Telecom Service Provider Total Sum of Financial Graded CAF Penalty imposed (Rs. in crores)
(As on 31.05.2016)
1 Aircel/Dishnet 108.82
2 Airtel/BHL 300.34
3 BSNL 583.09
4 Etisalat/Allianz/AIPL 0.62
5 Idea/ABTL 218.04
6 Loop 0.55
7 MTNL 10.13
8 QTL/HFCL 19.03
9 Reliance 377.51
10 SSTL (MTS) 53.14
11 STEL 10.92
12 Telenor/Telewings/Uninor 15.32
13 TTSL/TTML/Tata 328.15
14 Videocon 1.76
15 Vodafone 285.62
Grand Total 2313.05
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