After the Mumbai incident, you would think it would be impossible to get a Sim card without documents. Ha!
Though you need certain documents to get a Sim, there is no mechanism in Bangalore to verify them. Some sellers even provide sim cards for free for the first 15 days.
"For a sim, all you need is two photos and an ID card providing address proof. But we don't verify it. If the form is not filled properly, connection is cut after seven days," said Anantha Raman, an Airtel retailer.
After much deliberation, service providers have asked dealers not to issue Sim cards if the address is not right. "How do we know whether the address they are providing is their real address or not? It's the company's duty and not ours," said an agitated mobile dealer.
"I constantly change my Sim and once I got two Sim cards even after providing my old college ID card, where the validity had expired," said Sharanya Soman, an IT professional.
Police view
"To curb this problem, there should be verification whether it is a pre-paid or a post-paid card. The companies just store the information and leave it at that. Companies try to trace a customer only when he/she defaults.
By which time they would have changed their address or moved elsewhere," said K Ravichandran, sub-inspector.
"If you lose your Sim card, you should lodge a complaint because it can be misused," he added.
No rules
There is no rule to deal with this problem. "But in the future, we will do something to make sure it's foolproof. There are so many users and we can't go checking every house," said Samuel Zachariah, manager, Tata Indicom.
"We will disconnect the connection if we get to know that the customer hasn't given a valid document," said Gautham M G, CEO, CellOne.
After the Mumbai incident, you would think it would be impossible to get a Sim card without documents. Ha!