Kashmir residents object to ban on pre-paid mobile connections - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Residents of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday objected to the Union Government's decision to ban pre-paid mobile connections in the State, saying they would difficulties as a result. On Friday, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said pre-paid cell-phone connections would be banned in the State for security reasons. He also said that existing pre-paid SIM cards would not be renewed in the state after November 1. "This will cause a huge telecommunication gap in the rural areas. Most of the people in these areas have pre-paid mobile connections, as they are comparatively cheaper. I don't think it is a good decision," said Ejaz Ahmed, a local. Others said the procedure of shifting from pre-paid to post-paid mobile connections would be a cumbersome process. "We will have to wait for months and stand in long queues before we can change our pre-paid mobile connections to post-paid. I think it is a wrong decision as the cell phone companies have record of their pre-paid as well as post-paid customers," said Gulam Hassan, another local. Bashir Ahmad, a trader dealing in mobile sim-cards, said traders could not understand the point behind banning the service in the State. "I see no point in banning pre-paid connections and not post-paid connections. When we are following the regulations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), as followed in other parts of the country like doing proper verification, taking contact and address of the person before selling sim-cards, there is no point in banning pre-paid connections," Ahmad said. The decision also indicates that citizens owning prepaid connections from other states will not be provided roaming facilities while visiting the state.