The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Verification of prepaid subscribers underway

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 07, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Verification of prepaid subscribers underway

Staff Reporter

Step taken to prevent misuse of connections also sparks resentment from some

CHENNAI: Mobile telephony service providers in Tamil Nadu have intensified the process of verifying the bonafide of their prepaid subscribers, primarily to prevent misuse of the connections.

Launched some time ago following a directive from the Centre, the process seems to have gained momentum after the Mumbai terror attacks last month.

While sources in the telecom industry underline the significance of the verification exercise from the security perspective, the move, however, is not without its share of complaints and resentment from some subscribers.

Since many of the service providers have engaged third party agencies for the purpose, the subscribers are not comfortable sharing information, particularly over telephone.

A subscriber using a GSM connection of a private service provider says that an agent called him late in the evening recently to verify his postal address and other details.

One of the subscribers' grievances is about the absence of a system in which they could take their complaints, beyond the call centre, to senior executives of the company.

Confirming that the verification process of prepaid subscribers was in progress, a senior official of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited said wherever possible, it was doing it through the postal department. For the rest, it had commissioned "outside agencies" just like other service providers.

Sources in Aircel said a 100 per cent verification of the prepaid subscriber base was not easy, which is also a point of debate between the Centre and the service providers across the country.

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