Rs 17.33 billion has been imposed as penalty on operators for non-verification of users: Deora

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communications and IT has provided data pertaining to the penalties imposed on operators for issuing connections without properly verifying the subscriber.

According to Deora, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has imposed penalties of Rs 17.33 billion over the last three years on operators in this context.

This data has been provided via a monthly sample audit conducted by DoT?s Telecom Enforcement Resource Monitoring Cell.

As per the findings of the audit, Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) and Uninor have complied with the norms. Meanwhile, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was the least compliant, followed by Reliance Communications. Over the past three years, DoT has imposed a penalty of Rs 2.61 billion on BSNL and Rs 4.63 billion on RCOM.

Similarly, DoT has imposed a penalty of Rs 3.73 billion on Bharti Airtel, Rs 1.67 billion on Aircel, Rs 1.55 billion on Vodafone India, Rs 1.08 billion on Tata Teleservices Limited, Rs 896.9 million on Reliance Telecom and Rs 791.6 million on Idea Cellular.