Islamabad: In view of strict action against the SIM sellers not adhering to standard procedures, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed the mobile phone operators to immediately seal and terminate registration of their 6 major franchises located in different cities across the country.

The Authority has issued directions for the closing of two franchises of M/s Mobilink (i.e. Center Point Gulberg Lahore and Haleem Telecom Al-Haj Plaza Chowk Gulabad, Peshawar), one franchisee M/s Ufone (i.e Zakariaya Shopping Center Bosan Road Multan), one franchisee of M/s Telenor (i.e. 7 Circular Road Lahore) one franchisee of M/s Warid Telecom (i.e. Dar Communication Gari Shahu, Allama Iqbal Road, Lahore) and one franchisee of M/s CMPak (Paktel) (i.e. Latifabad No.7, Hyderabad)

PTA has taken serious view of non-verification of SIMs and has warned for further action against franchisees not following PTA procedures for issuance of new SIMS. A clear policy has already been devised and issued to mobile operators for verification of subscriberâ??s antecedents and cleaning of old data.

It may be mentioned that two surveys of customer service centers, franchisees and retailers of all companies have been conducted by PTA Zonal offices located at Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta to determine the progress on issuance of new phone connection after fulfilling all requirements in line with the instructions of the Authority. The shortcomings observed on part of the mobile phone operators in first survey were communicated to the CEOs of mobile companies for their redressal.  They were also informed about the possible legal actions against those who violate the procedures.

Similarly, the second survey conducted in September 2007 has revealed marked improvement in understanding of the procedure by the franchisees and their retailers and compliance with the directives of the Authority. The operators were instructed to take strict action against the franchisees that were still issuing the connections without verification of antecedents.  The direction to seal 6 franchises is the result of these surveys.

In so far as the old data is concerned, the companies have been instructed to clean the complete records through NADRA. For the purpose, the operators are sending heavy logs to NADRA on weekly basis and are taking action against the unverified subscriber numbers.

 

Khurram Ali Mehran

Deputy Director (PR)