The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has imposed a Rs 500 million penalty on Idea Cellular for suppressing information, violating the licence agreement and renting out more than 3,600 pre-activated post-paid SIM cards in bulk to a company that further sub-rented them.
DoT is believed to have given the operator 15 days to deposit the amount. DoT said that Idea Cellular deliberately withheld information, as it gave bulk mobile connections in 2007-08 to Limco Sales Corporation (LSC).
DoT added that this company further rented out mobile connections to individuals without conducting any verification and hiding the end-user’s identity, creating a potential threat to national security.
Renting or sub-leasing SIM cards to a third-party is illegal as per the Indian Telegraph Act.
Further, DoT uncovered that LSC used its own customer agreement forms, billing, tariff plans, roaming rates, support services, customer care, risk and credit management in violation of licence agreement and subscriber verification instructions.
The agreement between the company and Idea Cellular, inked in 2004, said LSC would sub-rent Idea’s connections after verification.
