Lok Sabha Question No. 3674 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-07
Subject: Verification of Subscribers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: C.S. PUTTARAJU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3674 TO BE ANSWERED ON 7 TH   DECEMER, 2016

## VERIFICATION OF SUBSCRIBERS

3674. SHRI C.S. PUTTA RAJU:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether over five crore cell phone users in the country have not been verified as per the KYC norms which is posing a serious threat to the security of the nation;
- (b) if so, the number of unverified cell phone users in the country, State-wise;
- (c) the  preventive  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  curb  the  alarming number of unverified users in the country;
- (d) the action taken by imposing penalties on erring telecom service providers; and
- (e) the time limit by which the verification of all the cell phone users, as per KYC norms, is likely to be completed?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) to (e) Madam, as per the instructions issued by Department of Telecom (DoT), all the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) are mandated to verify all the customers as per prescribed KYC norms before enrolling them.

In order to ensure adherence of these instructions by all the TSPs in carrying out  the  verification  as  per  prescribed  KYC  norms,  the  Telecom  Enforcement, Resource  &  Monitoring  (TERM)  Cells  carry  out  sample  verification  of  Customer Acquisition Form (CAF) of 0.1 % of all the customers available in the system at the end of each month. The sample size in respect of J&K, NE and Assam Service Areas is 0.2% on quarterly basis. In case a CAF is found non-compliant, penalty is imposed for each failed CAF ranging from Rs. 1,000/- to Rs. 50,000/- per CAF based on the CAF failure rate. The non-compliance report is also shared with TSPs for corrective actions.

This process of CAF verification is carried out by TERM Cells on monthly basis since April, 2007. As on 30.09.2016, out of total of 7.84 crores CAFs audited, a total of  43.20  lakhs  CAFs  were  found  non-compliant  by  TERM  Cells  during  such  CAF verification  process  and  a  total  financial  penalty  of  Rs  2335.90  crores  have  been imposed on erring TSPs for violation of CAF verification norms. The Licensed Service Area  (LSA)  wise  details  of  number  of  CAFs  audited  and  found  non-compliant  are enclosed at Annexure-I.

The 100% verification is mandated to be done by the TSPs and TERM Cell carry out physical sample verification of prescribed sample size of all the customers available  in  the  system  at  the  end  of  each  month  which  is  good  enough  size  to represent the whole population. As verification of mobile customer is carried out by TSPs as and when customer is acquired and the TERM Cells carry out the verification of  prescribed  sample  size  every  month;  thus  customer  verification  for  mobile connection is a continuous process.

## Annexure-I

| Sr. No.   | License Service Area   | Total number of CAFs audited by TERM Cells (as on 30.09.2016)   | Total number of Non Compliant CAFs found by TERM Cells (as on 30.09.2016 )   |
|-----------|------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh         | 55,04,029                                                       | 3,51,527                                                                     |
| 2         | Assam                  | 11,42,027                                                       | 63,691                                                                       |
| 3         | Bihar                  | 53,87,646                                                       | 1,71,412                                                                     |
| 4         | Delhi                  | 31,91,195                                                       | 1,47,503                                                                     |
| 5         | Gujarat                | 39,16,414                                                       | 2,06,441                                                                     |
| 6         | Haryana                | 19,52,307                                                       | 80,967                                                                       |
| 7         | Himachal Pradesh       | 7,59,832                                                        | 34,492                                                                       |
| 8         | Jammu & Kashmir        | 4,20,851                                                        | 51,957                                                                       |
| 9         | Karnataka              | 47,62,436                                                       | 4,08,964                                                                     |
| 10        | Kerala                 | 28,89,755                                                       | 1,49,697                                                                     |
| 11        | Kolkata                | 21,56,817                                                       | 86,298                                                                       |
| 12        | Madhya Pradesh         | 46,68,366                                                       | 2,25,824                                                                     |
| 13        | Maharashtra            | 64,37,591                                                       | 4,26,568                                                                     |
| 14        | Mumbai                 | 30,11,003                                                       | 1,43,057                                                                     |
| 15        | North East             | 5,35,833                                                        | 26,830                                                                       |
| 16        | Odisha                 | 23,33,599                                                       | 1,14,426                                                                     |
| 17        | Punjab                 | 27,05,410                                                       | 2,75,709                                                                     |
| 18        | Rajasthan              | 45,10,668                                                       | 3,32,717                                                                     |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu             | 76,05,357                                                       | 2,99,889                                                                     |
| 20        | UP East                | 62,23,054                                                       | 3,34,607                                                                     |
| 21        | UP West                | 43,46,325                                                       | 2,13,957                                                                     |
| 22        | West Bengal            | 39,85,851                                                       | 1,74,318                                                                     |
|           | Grand Total            | 7,84,46,366                                                     | 43,20,851                                                                    |

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