Government of India to rope in Department of Posts for verification of mobile phone subscribers

“The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked the Department of Posts (DoP) to engage its huge force of postmen for carrying out the verification process for mobile subscribers that are growing @ 6 million per month

NEW DELHI: No more will the verification process of mobile phone subscribers be carried out by the representatives of telecom companies. The Government has decided to rope in its postmen for the job. This will ensure foolproof verification of mobile subscribers, an issue that has been a major cause of concern for security agencies.

“The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked the Department of Posts (DoP) to engage its huge force of postmen for carrying out the verification process. The DoP will get Rs.14-16 for each verification,” said Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Shakeel Ahmed while taking to The Hindu.

Stating that the new arrangement will be in place soon, Mr. Ahmed said both private and State-owned telecom companies will have to adopt this process. “After reports from security agencies that mobile phones were being misused by terrorists and anti-social elements, the DoT last year carried out a massive nationwide verification drive. This is an ongoing process which needs to be carried out very cautiously. [The] Postmen who generally knows people and areas he serves are best suited for this job,” he said.

In the past one year, as many as one-crore mobile phones were disconnected for want of verification details. India already has over 18-crore subscribers, while 60-65 lakh new ones are being added to the system every month. “Reliable people are needed to carry out this mammoth task, and postmen will be the right people for it,” said Mr. Ahmed. There are over 1.75-lakh postmen deployed in more than one-lakh post offices.

“We are also looking at other projects to utilise the services of our postmen that will also add to our revenues,” the Minister said.

With over seven-crore mobile phones are being added to the system every year, the new scheme will turn out to be a real money spinner for the DoP.

The subscriber base will swell further, making it a very lucrative job for the department.

Source: The Hindu