No more pre-paid lifetime SIM cards for J&K, N-E

Due to ‘misuse’ by militants, telecom dept has asked service providers not to issue recharge coupons with validity of more than 3 months

The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has asked telecom operators in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East not to issue pre-paid SIM cards which have a lifetime validity, in view of the alleged misuse by militants. The operators have also been told not to issue recharge coupons with over three months’ validity.

The DoT order, which was issued a few days ago, has been implemented with immediate effect so as to “minimise the misuse of cellphones” by militants.

Speaking to The Indian Express, chief general manager of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) T R Wadwa confirmed that they had received the order. “From now onward, we will not be issuing any lifetime prepaid SIMs and recharge coupons with more than three months validity,” he said.

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However, he added that the DoT direction did not specify what would happen to the existing lifetime SIM cards that had already been issued.

Bharti Airtel, the other major telecom operator in the state, has also stopped sale of lifetime SIM cards. “We will strictly follow the new guidelines of the DoT,” said an Airtel spokesperson.

Both the telecom operators asserted that they issue SIM cards — both pre-paid and post-paid — only after the subscriber complies with all the required formalities: furnishing details about himself, a recent photograph and proof of residence.

“Subsequently the field staff conduct physical verification, besides vetting the documents. And if the subscriber is a Defence personnel, the SIM card is issued only after he submits an authority letter from the commanding officer of his unit,” said an Airtel official.

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However, these checks have not quite been successful. Last year, BSNL and Airtel authorities blocked ten thousand pre-paid SIM cards in J&K after it was revealed that militants had got hold of them under fake identities.

In December 2006, a J&K Police investigation found that a roadside bomb in Baramulla had been triggered by a cellphone, the first such attack in the Valley. It was found that militants had fraudulently procured the pre-paid SIM card using a fake identity of an Army personnel. The form had a photograph in uniform, the unit’s name, address and even a certificate from his superior, a Lieutenant Colonel.

“Militants procure lifetime SIM cards in bulk and then use them in such a manner that it becomes difficult for us to trace the user,” said a police source.

Police officials said they had already asked the telecom operators to tighten safeguards given the exponential increase of cellphone connections in the state. There are an estimated 16 lakh mobile subscribers in the state, out of which over 10 lakh are pre-paid SIM cards.