Tata Tele says 99.7% subscribers verified

MUMBAI: Tata Teleservices (TTSL) has taken exception to the statement made by some officials at the Department of Telecom, saying the operator had completed only 73% subscriber verification. TTSL president (corporate affairs) Ashok Sud said that the company is 99.7% compliant with the verification norms, despite the non-standardisation of the process.

“It is unfair to make such comments and conclusions without first giving the companies a chance to present their position,” he said in a statement here.

Media reports have said that according to a sample survey by the DoT, TTSL had the lowest verified users at 73%. TTSL is the only operator which has been insisting on 100% subscriber verification since last year.

TTSL said the company was asked to produce state-by-state break-ups in some circles. “In all cases, the information required by officials is not in a standard format...many of these instructions reaching us the day before the required information needed to be produced, thereby imposing on TTSL very short turnaround timelines. Despite these handicaps, TTSL was the first operator to submit the customer application form (CAF) forms in many circles,” Mr Sud said.

The company added that though it has not been contacted by the ministry with the said report or any of its findings, it “feels the need to respond since tremendous efforts have been put into the task of subscriber verification”.