Pre-paid mobile connections banned in J&K from Nov 1, 2009

Citing security reasons, the Ministry of Home Affairs has announced that all pre-paid mobile connections will be banned in Jammu & Kashmir, starting November 1, 2009.The ban will affect nearly 38 lakh pre-paid mobile phone customers in Jammu & Kashmir.

In end-November 2009, Home Minister P Chidambaram had visited Jammu & Kashmir and said that the government is considering the ban of pre-paid mobile connections in the state, since it failed in convincing people to use post-paid mobile connections.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has said that service providers or vendors were not conducting proper verification when providing pre-paid mobile numbers, as a result of which there were cases when a single person had been issued with multiple number of connections.

This has led to grave security concerns, a press release from the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

“Pre-paid connections are prone to misuse. Anyone wanting a mobile connection can always go in for a post-paid connection in Jammu and Kashmir. I think the problem is not so acute in the north-eastern States; we may also have to look at the situation in there,” Mr. Chidambaram said at a press conference.

The Minsistry has requested the Department of Telecommunications to take the necessary steps to execute the decision.

The Home ministry will execute the ban from November 1, 2009, onwards. Pre-paid customers of other states would not be able to use roaming services when they visit Jammu & Kashmir and the seven North Eastern states.

With 19 lakh customers, Bharati Airtel is the largest mobile service provider in the state followed by BSNL with 12 lakh and Aircel with 7 lakh customers.