JOIN USTrai moves to check deactivating SIM cards
The Telecom Regulatory Authority India (Trai) has initiated a debate on the telecom companies’ “arbitrary” practice of deactivating the SIM cards without prior intimation.
According to Trai, around 20 crore SIM cards, with a total balance of Rs 128.9 crore, were inactive for a certain period of time. The regulator said many subscribers at various forums have complained that telecom operators have disconnected their SIM cards arbitrarily. They also alleged that standard norms were not followed in disconnecting the connection.
“Deactivation of a SIM card without prior intimation and on arbitrary grounds deprives the subscriber of his mobile number which might have been an identity for him for a long time,” said Trai’s consultation paper on the issue. As a result, consumers suffer from a potential loss of activity in both personal and professional set-ups, causing an adverse impact on their livelihood.
“While some consumers complained against the practice of deactivation of SIMs without prior intimation by their TSPs (Telecom Service Providers) when they were travelling in India or abroad, other subscribers lamented about disconnection of their life-time prepaid connections within a very short period of non-usage,” Trai said.
The telecom operators, in their meetings with Trai, have said that they have to deactivate SIMs to efficiently manage number series (mobile phone numbers) allocated to them by the Department of Telecom . The regulator has fixed December 21 as the last date for comments on this consultation paper and December 28 as the last date for counter arguments.