The Hindu : Kerala News : Teleconferencing racket busted

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 15, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Teleconferencing racket busted

G. Anand

Illegal telephone exchanges pose severe threat to national security

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vigilance Telecom Monitoring (VTM) Cell of the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) has busted six illegal telephone exchanges in Kerala on the charge of using teleconferencing devices to connect international calls as locally originating ones to land and mobile phone users in the country.

The Deputy Director General, VTM Cell, Chennai, S. Sivaprakasam, told The Hindu that the illegal exchanges posed a threat to national security as the calls made through the exchanges were beyond the scope of lawful monitoring. He said teleconferencing rackets were rampant in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The DOT had issued guidelines on July 24, 1998, prohibiting any conferencing between international long distance call devices and STD lines taking into account the national security aspect.

Unearthed locations

The illegal set-ups that were unearthed this month were found to be operating from locations not indicated as Public Call Offices (PCOs) in Nilambur, Kozhikode and Alappuzha. One such illegal exchange was uncovered in Trichy in Tamil Nadu.

The method of operation was to take several telephone connections with STD and ISD facility at the same location from private telecom companies that offer less than Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) rates for calls to the Gulf countries.

Low call rate

The BSNL call rate for Gulf countries is Rs. 18 per minute while telecom service providers in the private sector offer rates as low as Rs. 11 per minute. The private telecom companies also offer attractive discounts in international, STD and local call rates to those who purchase bulk number of telephone connections.

According to VTM sources, illegal exchange operators in Kerala have business partners in the Gulf who locally advertise services offering cheap international calls to India.

The customer in the Gulf makes a missed call to the illegal exchange in Kerala. The operator at the illegal exchange calls the customer back on the missed call number and gets the details of the telephone line he requires to be connected in India and also the duration of the call. The international call is then connected as a local or STD call using the teleconferencing device at the exchange.

Payment at Gulf end

The customer gets a lesser than official tariff for the international call and pays for the call at the Gulf end.

The operator in Kerala is compensated by his business partner in the Gulf through the illegal hawala route.

The operators also manipulate the Caller Line Identification system at the local level so that none of the calls are traced back to the numbers of the illegal exchange.

The VTM analyses call data records and telephone usage patterns to crackdown on illegal teleconferencing exchanges. The Vigilance Cell of the BSNL had detected similar rackets in Thiruvananthapuram this year. The cases have been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The VTM would be recommending action against private telecom service providers who do not report such misuse of STD and ISD lines to DOT. The VTM have asked for more stringent laws to combat the menace.

CBI detects VOIP

In Pondicherry last week, the VTM with the help of the CBI detected a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone racket that was offering cheap calls to foreign countries.

In Trichy, the CBI is investigating an ex-MLA on the charge of running a teleconferencing racket.

The Kerala police were investigating a U.S-based software professional hailing from Kayamkulam on the charge of running VOIP telephone rackets in Alappuzha and Aluva.

An official said the person had bank accounts and real estate running into crore of rupees in Kayamkulam. The police were likely to seek the help of the Interpol to secure his arrest from the U.S., an official said.

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