<p>The re-verification has to be in accordance with the strict guidelines put forward for telecom operators offering pre-paid mobile connections in Jammu & Kashmir and northeastern states.<br /><br />The government has extended the validity of its permission for the use of pre-paid SIM cards in these states only till March 31 and nearly 40 lakh subscribers may lose their connections if the decision is not revoked.<br /><br />In January, 2010, the government had lifted a ban on the use of pre-paid mobile connections in the North-East and Jammu & Kashmir for one year and had notified strict criteria for re-verification of subscribers, along with other conditions.<br /><br />"It has been decided to extend the said permission for continuance of pre-paid mobile services in J&K Service Area till March 31, 2011, with the conditions mentioned therein," an official notification issued recently said.<br /><br />This also applies to the Assam and North-East service areas, an official notification said.<br /><br />"It may be noted that the validity of pre-paid connections should be restricted up to March 31, 2011, and in no case the pre-paid mobile connections shall be usable beyond March 31, 2011, on the basis of this permission," a DoT notification to all mobile operators in J&K, Assam and North-East service areas said.<br /><br />In the fresh guidelines, it was stated that though no customer shall be given more than one pre-paid or post-paid connection, if an individual desires to avail more connections, he will have to give reasons.<br /><br />Under no condition will one household in the state be entitled to more than six connections, it said.<br /><br />The new mobile connections will be issued only against documents having photographs of the customers and at the end of every month, a list of fresh connections would be submitted to state police and telecom watchdog TERM.<br /><br />Though no reason was given for extending the permission only till March, sources in-the-know said that this was done only as a temporary solution and a final decision was expected soon in this regard.<br /><br />The Department of Telecom (DoT) is working on the modalities of permitting pre-paid mobile services in these sensitive areas with the the concerned agencies and operators and a final decision will be announced soon, they said.<br /><br />Asked whether the operators have not implemented the guidelines properly or whether there was some other reason for the limited extension of the permission, the sources declined comment.</p>
<p>The re-verification has to be in accordance with the strict guidelines put forward for telecom operators offering pre-paid mobile connections in Jammu & Kashmir and northeastern states.<br /><br />The government has extended the validity of its permission for the use of pre-paid SIM cards in these states only till March 31 and nearly 40 lakh subscribers may lose their connections if the decision is not revoked.<br /><br />In January, 2010, the government had lifted a ban on the use of pre-paid mobile connections in the North-East and Jammu & Kashmir for one year and had notified strict criteria for re-verification of subscribers, along with other conditions.<br /><br />"It has been decided to extend the said permission for continuance of pre-paid mobile services in J&K Service Area till March 31, 2011, with the conditions mentioned therein," an official notification issued recently said.<br /><br />This also applies to the Assam and North-East service areas, an official notification said.<br /><br />"It may be noted that the validity of pre-paid connections should be restricted up to March 31, 2011, and in no case the pre-paid mobile connections shall be usable beyond March 31, 2011, on the basis of this permission," a DoT notification to all mobile operators in J&K, Assam and North-East service areas said.<br /><br />In the fresh guidelines, it was stated that though no customer shall be given more than one pre-paid or post-paid connection, if an individual desires to avail more connections, he will have to give reasons.<br /><br />Under no condition will one household in the state be entitled to more than six connections, it said.<br /><br />The new mobile connections will be issued only against documents having photographs of the customers and at the end of every month, a list of fresh connections would be submitted to state police and telecom watchdog TERM.<br /><br />Though no reason was given for extending the permission only till March, sources in-the-know said that this was done only as a temporary solution and a final decision was expected soon in this regard.<br /><br />The Department of Telecom (DoT) is working on the modalities of permitting pre-paid mobile services in these sensitive areas with the the concerned agencies and operators and a final decision will be announced soon, they said.<br /><br />Asked whether the operators have not implemented the guidelines properly or whether there was some other reason for the limited extension of the permission, the sources declined comment.</p>