<p>The Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered that no fresh pre-paid mobile connections be issued and that existing pre-paid SIM cards should not be renewed in the border state after November 1. There are about 38 lakh pre-paid mobile phone subscribers in the state, according to officials.<br /><br />The Ministry has asked the Department of Telecommunications to take appropriate action in the matter for implementation of the decision.<br /><br />The step comes in the wake of reports that proper verification is not being done while providing such pre-paid mobile connections by the service providers/vendors, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.<br /><br />In some cases, a single person had been issued with multiple number of connections. The fake documents/identity numbers are also reportedly being used by the vendors particularly, in the case of pre-paid connections.<br /><br />"This situation had given rise to serious security concerns. Hence, the decision," he said.<br /><br />During his visit to the state last fortnight, Home Minister P Chidambaram had said the government has been making efforts to persuade pre-paid subscribers to switch to post-paid connections due to security issues.<br /><br />In Jammu and Kashmir, Airtel has nearly 19 lakh subscribers followed by BSNL(12 lakh) and Aircel(seven lakh).</p>
<p>The Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered that no fresh pre-paid mobile connections be issued and that existing pre-paid SIM cards should not be renewed in the border state after November 1. There are about 38 lakh pre-paid mobile phone subscribers in the state, according to officials.<br /><br />The Ministry has asked the Department of Telecommunications to take appropriate action in the matter for implementation of the decision.<br /><br />The step comes in the wake of reports that proper verification is not being done while providing such pre-paid mobile connections by the service providers/vendors, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.<br /><br />In some cases, a single person had been issued with multiple number of connections. The fake documents/identity numbers are also reportedly being used by the vendors particularly, in the case of pre-paid connections.<br /><br />"This situation had given rise to serious security concerns. Hence, the decision," he said.<br /><br />During his visit to the state last fortnight, Home Minister P Chidambaram had said the government has been making efforts to persuade pre-paid subscribers to switch to post-paid connections due to security issues.<br /><br />In Jammu and Kashmir, Airtel has nearly 19 lakh subscribers followed by BSNL(12 lakh) and Aircel(seven lakh).</p>
