Identities Of 4.59 Crore Mobile Users Not Verified: CAG

The government had made verification of all SIM card subscribers mandatory in 2008. But a CAG report tabled in Parliament, said the identities of at least 4.59 crore subscribers were still unknown.

"Our examination of the records revealed that the seven major service providers failed to adhere to DoT's instructions regarding 100% verification of identity of subscribers before sale of SIM cards," CAG said.

"It indicated ineffective and poor control of DoT over telecom service providers to ensure 100% subscriber verification essential for national security even after seven years," the CAG said after its verification of defective CAFs.

The mobile subscriber base of service providers increased from 26 crore in 2007-08 to 92 crore in 2011-12. Revenue of these companies shot up from Rs 1.29 lakh crore to Rs 1.95 lakh crore during this period, but they "failed to comply with the instructions of DoT regarding subscriber verification", the auditor said.

Raising security concern, the federal auditor said despite the fact that these unverified subscribers posed grave threat to national security, the department of telecom was ineffective in bringing the violators to book.