Key Points
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has hauled up Vodafone Idea (Vi) for providing mobile connections to corporate customers without following the mandatory 'know your customer' (KYC) drill for end-users, and in turn, flouting the country's customer verification rules aimed at combating cyber fraud.. In a letter dated December 29, the DoT has asked Vi to strictly comply with the rules and disconnect all business connections (read: corporate mobile SIMs) that were activated without the KYC process since December 1, 2023, which was the deadline for implementing the customer verification rules.. Vi, though, claimed it is complying with DoT's KYC rules..
The telco, however, declined to comment on steps taken to address DoT's latest concerns around corporate customer verification...
As per DoT's instructions to telcos around customer verification, all business SIMs issued to any company must remain in a deactivated state..
"It has come to the notice of this office that Vi is providing business connections without carrying out end-user KYC, even after December 1, 2023, and (is) activating the connections after taking an undertaking from the authorised signatory of a company, which is in violation of DoT's instructions, dated August 31, 2023, around customer verification before enrolling them," the telecom department said in its letter to Vi..
