BTRC asks mobile financial service providers
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on Thursday asked mobile financial service providers to ensure that no SIM card is being replaced illegally.
The decision came after the commission had learnt of a number of incidents where vested quarters got hold of duplicate SIM cards illegally without the knowledge of the genuine owners with a view to doing forgery.
To this end, the BTRC on the day issued a notice to all mobile phone companies, banks and financial institutions related with such service for taking measures against illegal replacement of SIM cards.
While replacing a SIM card, the presence of the original owner and suspension of the previous SIM is mandatory, said the BTRC notice.
BTRC officials said the commission had recently received some complaints of unauthorised use of mobile phone SIM cards where the original owner was unaware of a clone of his/her number.
They said a vested quarter had been obtaining SIM cards against existing numbers and using those for doing illegal activities, which was causing trouble and in some cases monetary loss to the original owner.
‘For example, we received a complaint where a bkash number was being used for money transaction without the knowledge of the original owner. BTRC is looking into such matters,’ said a BTRC official.
‘We have tightened the SIM registration and replacement procedures, but the operators are not following them strictly. So such threats are becoming serious. It is also hard for BTRC to conduct inspection all the time to ensure compliance,’ he said.
-With New Age input
