According to a report by CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) top 7 telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone, RCom, and BSNL have a total fine of Rs 2116.95 crores levied for non compliance from their side on subscriber verification rule which is also known as KYC (Know Your Customers).
The report further added that “We further noticed that out of Rs 2506.80 crore of penalty levied by the DoT and the TERM Cells during 2009 to 2012 for defective CAFs, the service providers had paid only Rs 389.85 crore” reports TOI.
As per the revelation by the DOT (Department of Telecom) to the CAG, RCom s fine stands at a maximum of Rs 594.76 Crore, trailed by Airtel at Rs 502.8 crore, Vodafone at 203.04 Crore and the government owned BSNL at RS 269.42 crore.
These fines are enforced by Telecom Enforcement and Monitoring (TERM) according to which there exists a penalty of Rs 1000 for every erroneous Customer Application Form. The fine is levied even if the information is wrong by just 5%. The penalty climbs for the increase in the percentile of error and if the form has errors in the range of 90-95% then the fine extends all the way to Rs 5000.
Telecom companies had taken this move as callous until very recently after the National security was compromised they tightened the noose around the Telcos.
