The Hindu Business Line : 10 m cell users still unverified

New Delhi March 29 With just two days left for the Government-set deadline to expire, cellular operators are still to complete verification of at least 10 million mobile subscribers across the country.

After March 31, most of these subscribers whose verification has not been complete will face disconnection, as the operators are not keen to cough up the Rs 1,000 per user fine imposed by the Department of Telecom. In a bid to salvage some of the subscribers, cellular operators are coming out with a massive advertisement campaign urging all subscribers to get their verification done voluntarily.

The DoT, meanwhile, is forming a vigilance team to undertake audit of the operator's subscriber base across the country. The audit team will pick up subscribers at random to check if all the documents are verified.

The biggest impact will be on the subscribers of State-owned BSNL and MTNL who have completed verification of just about 80 per cent of their subscriber base. Private operators have completed verification for about 95 per cent of their user base. "I think operators will prefer to disconnect unverified subscribers than take the liability of paying the fine," said a telecom industry representative.

These subscribers can, however, apply for a new connection. Subscriber verification was mandated by DoT after the security agencies expressed concern that mobile phones were being used by anti-social elements and terrorists to communicate with each other.

About 2 million pre-paid card subscribers have already been disconnected over the last few months. Disconnecting 10 million subscribers in one go could result in a dip in the mobile growth rate for the first time in 3-4 years.

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