Ease customer verification rules for mobile SIM in J-K: Telcos

Telecom operators have blamed late response from local police in customer verification for delay in granting new mobile connections in Jammu and Kashmir and have asked the DoT to relax the norms to expedite the process.
Delay in response from local police is also leading public to fudge their details for getting mobile connections quickly, industry body Apex Advisory Council for Telecom in India (ACT), supported by COAI, said in a letter to the Department of Telecom (DoT).
"The service providers are doing the necessary verification as recommended ... And reporting the same to the local Police. But invariably, the service providers are not getting any communication from the local police and connections are not getting activated despite positive verification for 10 days," ACT said.

As per the process, any person in J&K seeking two or more mobile connections has to declare all connections working in his or her name, including that of family members, apart from declaring the reason for applying for multiple connections.
Upon receiving application, telecom operators are required to inform local police and await clearance for up to 10 days. In case police clearance is not received within 10 days, service provider is required to do a tele-verification of the customer in case of second connection and a physical verification for third and up to sixth connection.
"This is causing lots of pain for the customers and also forcing them to give false declarations to avoid declaring the multiple connections," ACT said.

Due to security concerns, mobile subscriber verification process is stringent in J&K and North East.

"We would request that instead of having to wait for 10 days for police clearance, service providers should be allowed to do tele-verification or physical verification as the case may be," ACT said.
It proposed that after verification, SIM can be activated and multiple connections case would be reported to the police or security agencies on a monthly basis as per the guidelines from the DoT.
"Any connection which police or security agencies find objectionable can be discontinued immediately," ACT said.
As per latest data of telecom regulator TRAI, there were over 96 lakh mobile subscribers in the state and Airtel dominates market share with over 30.5 lakh customers.