New Delhi, July 13: Telecom companies operating in Jammu and Kashmir have been asked to ensure strict subscriber verification by the government, failing which criminal case would be registered against the CMD of the company and its franchisee.
 Home Secretary G K Pillai Monday met the CEOs and MDs of seven telecom firms - Aircel, Bharti Airtel, RCom, Idea, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone and BSNL - and asked them to complete the verification of all subscribers within a week.
 In case the militants or their associates are found using the fraudulently obtained SIM card, the CMD of the company and the franchisee owner would be made a co-accused in the criminal case that would be registered, sources said.
 The Home Ministry has also found and conveyed it to the operators that SIM cards issued earlier have been issued hapazardly without carrying out proper checks.
 The Home Ministry also told operators that the licence of the concerned mobile operator will also be cancelled. These steps would act as a deterrent, they said.
 The Home Ministry had earlier asked security agencies to conduct a secret audit of whether the telecom operators were following the revised guidelines.
 It was found that out of a sample of 500 mobile phones, the verification norms were violated in 65 per cent of the cases, thus raising security concerns.
 Even on bulk SMSes, sources said the mobile firms were found violating the guidelines in the state.
 Sources said that progress on this front has been very slow and the security agencies have expressed concerns.
 According to sources, the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the telecom companies to complete verification of post-paid subscribers within seven days of the connection.
 While for the pre-paid users, the ministry said that all formalities for subscriber verification should be completed immediately without any further delay.
 The fresh guidelines had stated that though no customer will be given more than one pre-paid or post-paid connection, but if an individual desires to avail more connections, he will have to give reasons for it.
 Under no circumstances will one household in the state be entitled to more than six connections, it had said.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST