No Mobile SIMS Will Be Sold Through Franchises, Or Retailers From NOV 30

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued a notification to telecom operators not to sell new mobile SIMS through franchizes, customers Care Centers or retailers snd open outlets, from November 30. Service providers will have to verify unregistered SIMS by December 12. Unregistered SIMS will be blocked permanently, using 5 % illegal ones per week formula, notification adds. PTA has also asked the service providers to block entire stock of SIMs avaiable in the markets. So no SIM can be purchased from the outlets starting from December 01. Sources said the interior ministry has issued directives to PTA regarding unregistered SIMs that pose great threat to national security. The telecom authoriies have asked the cerllular service providers to verify all the SIMs by December 12, and issue a duly signed certificate stating that all the credentials are 100 % accurate by Deember 15. The credentials will be tallied with the information available with National Registration And Database Authority (NADRA). According to the PTA notification the new SIMS will only be issued against two documents: customer's computerized national identity card (CNIC) or his/her driving licence. Service providers will have to send new SIMs to the customer's authorised residential address and maintain proper record of SIMs sold, issued anf retreived. The rider delivering SIMs will have to ensure the person who has applied for the same personally receives it, that too after verifying the CNIC and signing the receiving confirmation. As per orders of the Supreme Court no more than five SIMs, whether from one or more service providers can be issued against a single CNIC. The choice to retain SIMS of a particular number rests with the customer, PTA notification added. A source said that interior ministry has asked the PTA to unblock You Tube and manually block any blosphemous content. He, however, did not say when the decision is going to be implemented.