DoT calls operators' meeting

The Department of Telecom today called all service providers, including the state-owned BSNL and MTNL, for a meet on Monday to sort out issues regarding verification of customers before enrolling them as subscribers.

"It has been observed that service providers are not adhering to the provisions of the licence agreement and instructions issued from time to time regarding verification of customers before enrolling them as subscribers, due to which security agencies are facing difficulties in tracing the target subscriber," the DoT said its communication to all service providers.

In a bid to address the DoT's concerns, all GSM and CDMA-based operators had recently created an apex advisory council for telecom and had approached the department of posts to undertake the task of address verification through postmen.

They had also decided to withdraw the practice of issuing pre-activated pre-paid cards in the market.

Additionally, operators have also agreed to create a registry of all their points of sale, retailers and distributors, and hold them responsible if mobile connections are issued without following the stipulated verification procedures.