Mumbai, Maharastra -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/13/2010 -- Few days after the ban on pre-paid connections in Jammu and Kashmir, around 38 lakh mobile connections are virtually dead after the recharge facilities were put on hold by the telecom operators. The pre-paid connections were getting snapped with the expiry of recharge or validity facilities, reports Greater Kashmir.
"For the past two days, I am running from pillar to post to recharge my phone but it is not available anywhere. I have no other option left but to switch over to expensive post-paid service," said Inam-ul-Haq, a teenager from Habba Kadal, waiting outside an Airtel outlet at Raj Bagh.
The subscribers complained that their SIM cards were being cancelled without any prior information. "My SIM got blocked all of a sudden yesterday and the customer care personnel told me to convert it into post-paid," said a subscriber. The sources in the telecom companies said the registration of thousands of pre-paid connections was being cancelled every day.
"Registration of around 10,000 to 12,000 subscribers is getting cancelled daily. We can't stop all the mobile phones in one go, so it is being done in a quantified manner," said an Airtel official.
As the recharge facilities by the state-owned operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) were available till Sunday noon, they were stopped by operators like Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone and Reliance the moment the ban was announced on November 1.
"We have received information from all telecoms companies that recharge facility will not be available now. The companies have stopped both recharge and top-up facilities with customers craving for the past three days for these facilities," said Bashir Ahmed Dar, Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir STD/PCO Owners Association.
Dar added that an agitation would be launched against the ban. He said traders associations of Kashmir would be joining hands with them to protest the move. "We will be forced to take an extreme step if the ban wasn't revoked soon," he said.
According to Dar, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) guidelines, which are same for the post-paid, were being followed by all the counters while giving pre-paid SIM cards.
He also added that the ban had a direct impact on 10,000 outlets and had led to unemployment for around 20,000 youth.
Meanwhile, the STD and PCO owners on Wednesday lodged protest against the ban. After the meeting, a statement was issued by the body demanding immediate revocation of the ban.
"The ban, which has strangulated the communication system, should be revoked or else the subscribers should be provided post-paid connections on priority," the statement said.
Describing that the pre-paid services in the state were commenced during peak of militancy, the statement said, "The ban has come at a time when the center itself claims that the militancy graph in the state has come down."
The association urged the STD and PCO operators to discontinue the 'night packs' as they promote immorality among the youth.
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