ISLAMABAD: First deadline of biometric verification of the mobile SIMs ended on 26, February, 2015. According to latest information unverified SIMs of people having three or more connections to their names will start getting blocked from 26, February, 2015.
Official sources at the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) told media men that three and more SIMs on one CNIC if not verified by February 26 will start getting blocked from 27 February. They said that the deadline to complete process for biometric verification for total 103 million SIMs (subscriber identity module) is April 13. So far more than 72 million SIMs against 46million CNICs (computerised national identity cards) have been verified while around 10 million were disowned/blocked by the authority, they added.
The sources also said that in the second phase of the verification those having less than three prepaid connections, could verify their SIMs till April 13.
The government in collaboration with the telecom operators had launched biometric verification of SIMs as a step to curb terrorism in the country. The telecom operators – Mobilink, Ufone, Telenor, Zong and Warid – had launched prepaid SIMs verification on January 13 on the direction of the government, which is of the view that the step is mandatory to curb terrorism in the country.
Since the government had announced the deadline, unprecedented rush was witnessed at the outlets of the cellular companies during last few days especially on last Wednesday. Similarly, a large number of SIM subscribers have been visiting the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to remove discrepancy in mismatch to their thumb impression. A subscriber is paying Rs10 for BVS which goes in the pocket of Nadra.
According to the PTA, the telecom operators’ retail points will not issue new prepaid SIMs till the biometric verification of the old prepaid connections by April 13. At present, there are about 60,000 retail centres and 1,500 customer service centres and franchises of the five operators across the country. The BVS machines have been installed at all outlets.
Under the BVS regime, a customer will now have to visit the retailer/franchisee/Customer Service Centre of the respective operator, and shall provide his/her CNIC number along with the mobile station integrated services digital network (MSISDN) to be used as primary number for re-verification through BVS.
The sale channel will send CNIC number, MSISDN and related biometric credentials to the system of respective operator using the “Re-Verification” interface. The system will verify the ownership of the MSISDN against the particular CNIC and verification status whether the primary number is already verified or otherwise.
In case the primary number is not verified through BVS, only then the system shall send the biometrics (thumb/finger impression) of the subscriber to Nadra for verification. However, if the CNIC entries don’t match the MSISDN related CNIC number in the system, the process will stop there and subscriber shall be asked to provide correct number or proceed for “Change of Ownership”.
