Regulation of Telecom Sale Points and safeguarding consumer interests Introduction With the liberalization of the telecom sector

in last decade of 20th century our country witnessed the fast growth in telecom which is still continuing. With the objective of having a rapid telecom growth, the Government allowed the telecom service providers to employ or appoint agents for provision of telecom services keeping in with the business model and security standards followed world over. These sale points proliferated and became ubiquitous and evolved in to a DistributorRetailer Sale model in the telecom industry. In view of Nations Security and for protection of customers interest the Government made mandatory requirements of Photo, Proof of Identity (POI) & Address (POA) for customers before provisioning/activation of any telecom services. Present Indian Policy on Telecom Sale and Subscriber enrollment: Government has directed the telecom licensee to ensure adequate verification of each and every customer before enrolling them as subscriber and to make available, at any prescribed instant, to the Licensor or its authorized representative details of the subscribers using the service. Later due to the growth of illegal clandestine telecom setups in India, the licensees were further directed to exercise utmost vigilance while providing bulk telephone connections for a single user or for a single location. The TSPs in turn had put the onus on distributor and retailers for complying with Government directions. compromised with the Nations Security and consumer protection. Problems being faced by the Government in existing policy: It has been observed that retailer while increasing their sales pays little attention to DOTs guidelines. The usage of forged POI/POA documents is rampant. The procedure of activation of mobile connections followed by TSPs was faulty and the connections were activated without proper identity / address verification. This is security vulnerability as has been reported many times through media and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) investigations that many a times fake SIM Cards have been used by the terrorists/insurgent These retailer sales points have helped us in achieving the Indian Telecom Growth what we see today but has

groups /antinational in attacks/crimes which have happened in the country. Although the LEA / field units of DOT are able to detect the retailers/distributors defaulting on verification guidelines and indulging in unethical means to increase their sale and endangering the Nations Security but direct actions could not be initiated against them as they are not having direct legal relation with the DoT. Actions being taken by the Government: In order to curb the irregularities in the telecom sale the following actions are being taken by the Government:

1. DoT has audited 7 Million Customer Application Forms wherein a penalty of Rs.
700 Crore( Approx.) has been imposed on the TSPs.

2. Based upon the information received from TERM Cells & LEAs, the TSPs have been
asked to terminate the franchisee dealerships in the various States.

3. Lodging of FIR against Customers / Retailer / Distributors / TSPs in cases.

Due to above actions the overall compliance to the DOT instructions has been increased but the sale of SIM Cards using forged POI/POA has also increased. with no compromise in Nations security. Proposed Policy for Registration of Sale and Provisioning of Telecom Services: With the objective of regulating the telecom sale points, it is proposed that Retailers shall be registered with Government on the basis of certain eligibility condition. Government vide these Registration shall have authority and power to cancel/ temporarily suspend /prosecute the registration in case of any violation or non-adherence to guidelines by these retailers. This policy will make the Retailers / Telecom Sale point directly accountable to the Government and wean them away from engaging in illegal / unethical / immoral activities which is a cause of concern. Hence a need is felt to regulate the telecom sale points without affecting the telecom growth and

The broad objective of this policy will be as follows:

1.

Once registered with DoT, retailers will be authorized to sell SIM card, handsets, recharge vouchers, accessories etc. of any TSP. It will be mandatory that the TSPs or their distributors can only sale the telecom services through the registered retailers only. Implementation of the uniform regulation and procedure in telecom sales and activations will ensure level playing field for the TSPs. To apprise the Retailers about the government subscriber verifications norms and sensitize them time to time and to bring a change in the behaviors of the telecom retailer to all TSPs. Modernization of Telecom Sale Points for telecom services.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Increase the awareness of the customers/retailers about dos and donts while subscribing Retailer registration data including their names and services provided will be put up for public access in order to help consumers make informed choices. Inculcate the duties and responsibilities among retailer/customers vis--vis National Security. Protect the consumers from the identity theft cases. TSPs may directly enter in to contractual agreement with registered retailer. Implementation of Proposed Registration Process: We can make process of registration as follows:
a.

Application for registration will be submitted online by retailer/distributors with required details. Retailer will take printout of this online form and will submit it along with all the required documents (Photo, PIA/POA, PAN, Shop Act etc.) to any one of TSPs. TSP will verify these form and documents. TSPs will physically verify retailers and will recommend retailer to be registered with Government/DoT. A timeline frame for three month may be set during which all existing/new Retailers will register them with DOT.

b.

c.

d.

Evaluation and Monitoring of above Policy The efforts shall start bearing fruits after the process of registration are in place for six months. DOT shall continue to carry out the CAF Audit with the objective of finding out whether incidence of illegal/unethical/immoral practices has come down. The inputs from the LEA will also be a pointer in this direction.

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Harish Kumar , R/o Gangwar Colony Nawabganj, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh , India Email id. Harish_gang@yahoo.com Disclaimer : I hereby declare that the above views are my own and not those of the Government of India.