(a) whether the Government is aware of the cheating with the subscribers by way of
tempering the time of calls by the owners of legal PCO booth;
(b) if so, the details thereof despite of the rules in this regard;
(c) the provisions made by the Government in this regard;
(d) the number of such incidents took place in the country especially in Delhi during the last three years, as on date; and
(e) the action taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR. SHAKEEL
AHMAD)
(a) & (b) Sir, few cases of cheating of consumers by STD/ISD/PCO operators have been
reported. The details are available at (d) below.
(c) Broadly, the following mechanism is in place in BSNL/MTNL to prevent misuse lf PCOs by
the owner of PCO:-
i. Periodical surprise checks are carried out by field staff of BSNL/MTNL to check any kind of
misuse including cheating with the PCO machine installed by the PCO owners.
ii. Only Type Approved instrument is allowed to be used by the PCO operator.
iii. Periodical surprise checks of the PCO owners ae also carried out by the Vigilance Cells of
BSNL/MTNL to ensure that the guidelines of provision of PCOs are followed scrupulously by them.
(d) The 1171 incidents in the country and no incidents in Delhi has been reported in last
three years i.e. during 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 (till 31-01-2008).
(e) The Licenses/Argeement of 7 PCO operators in the country has been cancelled. The
warning has been issued to the 1164 PCO operators in the country.