Telcos to be fined for unregistered SIMs from April
Sale of SIM cards using
biometric verification
begins on trial basis today
Mobile phone operators will count a fine of $50 for every unregistered mobile SIM (subscriber identity module) cards from April next year.
The operators will get three months time from January to complete the registration process and the government would start enforcing the fine from April to tackle the use of unregistered SIMs by criminals.
Were giving mobile phone operators three months from January to correct the registration process. If they fail to complete the task, they will be fined from April, State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim told reporters at a briefing at the secretariat yesterday.
On October 11 in 2012, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had decided that no operator will be able to sell pre-activated SIMs. A fine of $50 was also set at that time but the decision has not been implemented in the last three years.
The state minister also expressed her dissatisfaction over the fact that the telecom operators were taking too long to provide information for verification regarding their subscribers to the government authorities having access to national identity (NID) database.
Meanwhile, the sale of SIMs using biometric verification will begin on a trial basis today.
Tarana Halim said Prime Ministers ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy will inaugurate the system by purchasing the first SIM. However, the regular sale of SIMs will start on December 16.
Talking on the 90-day work plan she fixed after taking over charge as the state minister, Tarana Halim evaluated her tenure at office so far as good.
She, however, said the submarine cable-related work of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) has not been satisfactory as only 50 per cent of the total work has so far been completed.
Besides, the drive against illegal voice over internet protocol (VoIP) business will continue, she said, adding that two BTRC teams conduct drives against illegal VoIP service providers each week. She further divulged that about 750 post offices across the country will be turned into e-centres by October 30 while the rest would come under the initiative gradually.
At present, there are six mobile phone operators in the country and till September, there were 131.436 million subscribers. Of those, documents of about 40 lakh or 70 per cent out of 57 lakh SIM cards, submitted by the telecom operators to the Election Commission until September 19, was found to be fake. In one revealing instance, it was found that a single NID card was used to register 6,858 SIMs.
