India TV Fact Check: Sometimes misinformation spreads on social media, causing panic among the general public. Many people do not verify such information thoroughly and end up believing it to be true. One such false news is circulating on social media claiming that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) would fine people who use two SIM cards on the same phone. When India TV fact-checked this claim, it turned out to be false news, as confirmed later by the regulatory body itself.
What is the claim?
On social media, a claim surfaced that TRAI would impose fines on individuals using two SIM cards. A user named @ggganeshh posted this claim, accompanied by a caption stating that several media channels were reporting that TRAI planned to fine people for using two SIMs on the same phone. "Many media channels are reporting it 'TRAI Plans To Impose Fine for Using Dual SIMs in Same Phone, Say Reports'," the post reads.
India TV did investigation
India TV's Fact Check team decided to investigate the truth of this claim. We searched for news reports related to this claim by using the keyword search 'TRAI dual SIM fine' on Google. Among the results, we found a report by The Economic Times, which mentioned that TRAI had proposed to "regulate numbering resources." This information was also found on the Lokmat news website. We also found it on the Lokmat news website.
The Economic Times report states that the authority considers phone numbers to be "extremely valuable public resources with no limit." Therefore, it plans to impose charges on mobile operators with low usage numbers. In turn, operators may levy a one-time or annual fee on the owners of numbers that haven't been used for a long time. Essentially, the proposed penalty will apply only to those who have two phone numbers but do not use one of them.
What did TRAI say?
After this, we found a consultation paper titled "Revision of National Numbering Plan" on the TRAI website and a press release related to it. It clearly states that none of the documents mentions any charges or penalties for people using two SIMs in their phones. However, one part of the consultation paper discusses special and vanity numbers allocated by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to their customers. These customers may or may not use these numbers or may even hoard them, leading to "inefficient use of numbering resources."
TRAI has suggested imposing a "one-time" or "annual recurring" charge on telecom service providers for underutilized numbers. Additionally, TRAI has recommended imposing "financial sanctions" on telecom service providers who retain deactivated phone numbers without reallocating them.
What was said in the second press release?
To clarify the confusion caused by the viral claim, TRAI issued another press release on June 14. It stated that the speculation that TRAI is planning to impose penalties on customers for holding "more than one SIM/number" is completely false.
Conclusion
The claim circulating on social media that TRAI will impose penalties on those using two SIM cards has been found completely false by India TV's fact-check.
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