Retailers vs. service providers in DoT war

Afternoon Voice

Following the recent arrests of SIM card dealers, who have been booked for fraud, forgery and improper verification of data among others, the mobile dealers have formed a union named Mobile Dealers Welfare Association of Mumbai (MDWAM). The union has been started with the purpose of challenging the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the 12telecom service providers in the city. 

“We always verify the documents, only then provide SIM cards. If the documents are forged, it is the responsibility of theservice provider to recheck the documents from their side and cancel the services based on false data,” claimed Shafqat Usman, President, MDWAM.

He added, “There is always a physical verification conducted by the service provider in case of a postpaid service. However, in prepaid services, not a single verification call is made by the same service provider.”

Moreover, Amjad Khan, a dealer in Byculla questioned, “Police is only arresting the dealers. Why no arrests take place in any of these corporate offices, who do not follow the DoT norms?”

Physical verification of prepaid SIM cards buyers is not done by retailers as they get only a small amount of commissionon selling these cards. So, the better option they had was to stop selling cards, which has been done by this union, in which the number of retailers joining is increasing.

But, the problem that arises is that the security of the nation is being put at risk. Nowadays, any anti-social element can easily purchase a SIM card by forging documents as the retailers as well as service providers are not ready for physical verification.

Here, the MDWAM and its members allege that the private telecom industry is busy in expanding their business by compromising on national security. These members want proper implementation of the DoT norms i.e. the physical verification to be done by the service providers themselves. 

Other expert views

Dilip Davda, investment analyst and advisor, commented, “By providing SIM cards at very low prices and attracting customers there are chances that stock prices may rise in the bull race,” whereas Mubin Solkar, Advocate, High Court, stated, “It is not the fault of retailers alone. If the verification norms are not followed by the service providers, they must be held accountable for it.”

Moreover, Advocate Parag Pradhan added, “It’s a blatant violation of law, where the corporate giants are using small retailers as the bait. The onus and responsibility as well as the compliance of legality rely completely and only with the service providers.”

When contacted, DCP Rajkumar Vatkar, added, “We have communicated with the DoT authority in this case and are waiting for the legal requirements to be fulfilled soon.”

In the last month alone, 50 retailers have been arrested across the city and have been booked under Sections 419, 420, 466 and 468 of IPC. No action, however, has been taken against the service providers yet. Recently, the Delhi Government has slapped a telecom service provider with a fine of Rs.700 crore for non-compliance of rules.