Govt to ban SIM card sales to underaged

The government decided on Wednesday to tighten registration of cell phone Subscriber Identity Module and prohibit its sale to the youths under 18 to curb growing crimes using cell phones, home minister Sahara Khatun said.
‘We are framing a policy to curb the crimes and misuse of cell phones,’ she told reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on the issue.
She said that the policy would be finalised in two months.
She chaired the meeting to draft a new policy on SIM-RIM (Removable User Identity Module) subscription registration
Representatives of the cell phone companies also attended the meeting.
In all six cell phone companies, operating in the country, have 55 million active mobile phone subscribers, said BTRC officials.
The home minister said that the cell-phone companies have been asked to submit the list of dealers and retailers to Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission by September 30.
The meeting, she said, decided to strengthen vigilance on the sale of SIMs as well as the distributors and the retailers.
She said that as extortions and intimidations of people using cell phones rose alarmingly, the steps were intended to curb the crimes.
The state minister for home, Shamsul Haque Tuku, the home secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder, senior officials from law enforcement agencies, BTRC attended the meeting.
She said that a committee, with a home ministry joint secretary as the convener, had been entrusted to supervise implementation of government’s directives on sale and registration of SIM cards.
The committee includes senior officials from the BTRC, the police, the Rapid Action Battalion and cell phone companies, she said.
She said that another committee had been entrusted to publicise the new registration system.
The meeting, she said, also approved a one-page form for the registration of SIM cards.
The new policy, when ready, would require SIM card buyers to provide copies of national identity cards.
It would, she said, require a SIM card dealer or retailer to have the minimum educational qualification of Secondary School Certificate and those appointed earlier without the qualification would have to be trained on SIM card registration.
She said that the policy would require cell phone companies to collect police verification report of individuals before appointing them as retailers or distributors of SIM cards.
The new policy, she said, was drafted in line with the recommendations of a committee for curbing cell phone crimes.
The home minister said that the new policy would allow, from January, 2011, online registration of SIM cards.
The state minister of home Shamsul Hque Tutu said that the guardians would be held to account if the under age use their cell phones for committing the crimes.
He said that the government was also thinking to limit the number of SIM cards an individual could buy.
Following a government order, the authorities concerned blocked many SIM cards registered by individuals hiding their identity, for using the cell phones for committing extortions and other crimes, said an official.
The government, he said, asked for blocking all such SIM cards in phases.
A 10-member committee, headed by Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission chairman Zia Ahmed in March recommended a number of measures for curbing crimes using cell phones.
The committee comprises representatives of cell phone companies.
The Election Commission has the responsibility to verify the national identity cards of buyers before completing the registration process, said Sahara Khatun.

Courtesy of NewAge