The Hindu Business Line : DoT issues show-cause to cellular operators

The specifics
The notices were issued after the DoT-appointed vigilance officers found out that details of a number of subscribers were not available even after the March 31 deadline.
DoT has issued a show-cause notice to Bharti giving the company 15 days to reply as to why action should not be taken against the company for not complying with Government order.

New Delhi May 24 Even after disconnecting millions of subscribers, cellular firms including Bharti Airtel and Hutch have been given a show-cause notice by the Department of Telecom for not fully completing the verification process of the remaining subscribers. The show-cause notices were issued after the DoT-appointed vigilance officers found out that the details of a number of subscribers were not available even after the March 31 deadline set by the Government. For instance, the Vigilance Officer in Andhra Pradesh randomly picked up 1,800 mobile subscribers of Bharti Airtel, out of which only 50 per cent were found to be properly verified.

DoT has issued a show-cause notice to Bharti giving the company 15 days to reply as to why action should not be taken against the company for not complying with the Government order.

In their defence, cellular operators said that they were not happy with the way the Vigilance Officers are going about doing the audit. "They are extrapolating the number of unverified subscribers found in a small sample to the entire subscriber base to calculate the fine. This is unfair and we are asking the Government to put in a process for the vigilance officers as otherwise operators may lose their focus on the target of adding six-seven million subscribers a month," said an industry source.

The mobile industry has sponsored a meeting of all the Vigilance Officers in the country along with key DoT officials in Mussoorie over the next two days. "We are organising a meeting for all the Vigilance Officers along with the industry to set up a standard process across the country," said an industry source.

Subscriber verification was mandated by DoT after security agencies expressed concern that mobile phones were being used by anti-social elements and terrorists for communicating with each other.

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