The Haryana police have unearthed a case in which a handful of individuals acquired hundreds of connections from telecom service providers Reliance Infocomm and Hutchison Essar, making a mockery of verification norms for issue of mobile phones.
Investigations have revealed that 15 persons had been using 536 Reliance Infocomm connections among themselves, while 10 persons were found sharing nearly 2245 pre-paid connections of Hutchison Essar in Kaithal district.
According to Haryana police, the fraud came to light during investigations into increasing incidents of murder in Kaithal district, where the criminals involved were found using mobile phones for communication.
The police have registered cases against Reliance Infocomm and Hutchison Essar for failing to verify the identity of the subscribers.
Cases have been booked against Rajat Telecom and Aircell DigiLink (India) Ltd for their involvement in issue of connections based on false documents.
"We are committed to working closely and cooperating with the licensor, regulator and law enforcement agencies to find a long-term solution to limit and control such fraud. We have already taken up validation of the mobile subscriber database in Haryana on war footing and have de-activated connections wherein we have found a possibility of subscription fraud," a Reliance Infocomm spokesperson said.
Hutchison Essar said in a statement the company had taken serious note of the situation in Kaithal. "We see the subscriber verification process to be in the best interests of the company, customers and various other stakeholders. We are committed to its best possible implementation. We have consistently reinforced this with our trade representatives and partners. In this case, it seems certain market-level malpractices have undermined our best efforts."
The case has come to light even as the department of telecom recently asked service providers to tighten verification norms. The DoT had warned of serious action against operators found violating the guidelines.
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