Rs 1 cr fraud by phone subscribers
From Jupinderjit Singh

PATIALA, Dec 8 — The Department of Telecom, Patiala circle, allegedly has been robbed of more than Rs 1 crore by way of non-payment of telephone bills of past several months by more than 800 subscribers.

Not only this, but a financial fraud by many subscribers who had submitted fictitious address to the department and made calls, especially overseas, and did not pay the bills of several months, has allegedly come to light. The department finds itself helpless to a large extent in tracing the persons committing the fraud as they are not available at the given address.

These serious allegations have been levelled by Mr Swatanter Bansal, member of the Telephone Advisory Committee, in a letter to Mr Jagmohan, Union Cabinet Minister for Communications. The advisory committee is formed by the Centre to act as a bridge between the public and telecom officials. It meets usually once a month.

Along with the allegations, Mr Bansal has also demanded a high-level inquiry into the "financial fraud" and called for making some changes in the rules regarding registration of a new subscriber. Due to some loopholes in the existing system, more than 800 subscribers have not paid their telephone bills for the past several months. The Telecom Department does not have any teeth to punish these subscribers and recover the money as it can only disconnect the phone service.

The TAC member, furnishing an example of fraud by a subscriber, has alleged in his letter that a defaulter of the Patiala telephone exchange managed a new telephone connection in a fictitious name. The first two bimonthly bills (June and August 1998) of a nominal amount were paid in time. He did not pay the next bill of October 1998 which was around Rs 60,000. The department did not disconnect his telephone. The next two months December 1998 bimonthly bill was for more than Rs 4 lakh. The total outstanding amount is more than Rs 5 lakh and there is no one at the address given to collect the bill because it is learned the telephone connection was under a fictitious name and address. In one stroke, a person fooled the department to the tune of Rs 5 lakh, the TAC member alleged. The list also includes many influential persons and politicians.

Mr G.R. Tuteja, General Manager, Telecom, Patiala Circle, confirmed such a case. He said the moment he came to know about it the phone of the subscriber was disconnect and the case had been sent to the Vigilance Department of the telecom circle which was conducting an inquiry.

The General Manager, however, maintained the list of pending bills in his circle was far less than the other circles. Moreover, it was also not a mistake of his department as the alleged subscriber had made use of certain loopholes in the system.

On the suggestion made by Mr Bansal in his letter that such frauds could be checked by introducing a provision of furnishing two sureties of existing subscribers by a new applicant for a telephone connection along with attaching photograph of the applicant with the application, Mr Tuteja said there was need for making some changes but these could be introduced only after making a complete study of pros and cons.

Mr Bansal has also urged the Communications Minister to cut down the hike made in the bimonthly rent charged from a subscriber from a rural area. This rent was recently increased by 100 per cent, he said.