The biometrically un-verified subscriber identity modules (SIMs) and removable user identity modules (R-UIMs) will be deactivated, but these can be re-registered for 18 months from today by paying taka 100 as tax, telecoms regulator BTRC said. The move comes in the wake of the expiry of an extended deadline yesterday to biometrically register mobile connections, BTRC Secretary Sarwar Alam said.
Until the last day of biometric re-registration yesterday, according to mobile phone operators, nearly 10.7 crore customers,
as against the BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission) estimated number of 13.19 crore, have registered their mobile connections biometrically.
“The unregistered SIMs and RUIMs will be deactivated from midnight today, and the subscribers of the deactivated numbers have to pay the charge meant for new connections. The thing here is that one can get his/her existing numbers back following biometric registration,” he told The Independent yesterday.
However, mobile phone operators jointly wrote to the telecoms regulator to know how they could implement the BTRC directive of realising SIM or RIUM tax in just one day. They also urged the BTRC and the Posts and Telecommunications Division to give them at least one month to materialise the directive.
A top mobile phone company executive preferring anonymity said, by law it is the job of the NBR to collect the SIM tax. But the NBR has not issued any directive in this regard.
“The BTRC told us in a directive on Monday that re-registration could be continued by paying SIM/RIUM tax. But how could we implement it in just a day,” the executive said questioning the justification of the BTRC directive.
On the other hand, the Association of Mobile Telephone Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), in another letter to the BTRC, said it would not be possible to disconnect all the biometrically unregistered connections from the zero hours of May 31. They said it would be possible to lock the outgoing calls but not the incoming calls.
Incoming calls can only be barred manually through the servers of every mobile operator. So it needs three to five days to snap incoming calls, top three mobile operators told The Independent.
Expressing concern over the BTRC move to disconnect the unregistered phones, they said that any disconnected SIM/RIUM can no longer be verified biometrically as the verification code needs to be authenticated through an active connection. The BTRC acknowledged to have received the letter yesterday.
Industry insiders fear that the 2.5 crore customers, who failed to re-register their connections, would face harassments if the BTRC stands rigid on its stance.
Meanwhile, telecoms law expert Barrister Anik R Haque on Monday filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the BTRC move to snap the biometrically unregistered mobile connections.
The hearing on the petition is likely to be held today, Barrister Haque said.
Earlier, the High Court had dismissed a petition by Haque challenging the biometric process of registration.