Rajasthan IT department orders Vodafone Idea to pay Rs 28 lakh for issuing duplicate SIM

While online fraud is on a rise in India, recklessness in providing SIM cards without proper documents by Vodafone Idea has incurred a fine of Rs 28 lakh. According to reports by Times of India, the Rajasthan IT department has ordered Vodafone to pay fine of 27.5 lakh out of total Rs 68.5 lakh in connection to duplicate SIM card case.

According to the reports, Krishna Lal Nain’s mobile number stopped functioning on May 25, 2017. After Lal faced the inconvenience, he went to Vodafone’s store in Hanumangarh (in Rajasthan) to report the matter. He was handed a new sim card at the store. However the new SIM did not work despite repeated complaints by Nain to the service provider. The next day he went to one of company’s store in Jaipur and submitted a complaint.

However, he was startled to find that an amount of Rs 68.5 lakh has been transferred from his bank account by using the OTPs received through his number.

Upon investigation it was found that one Bhanu Pratap was issued duplicate SIM card belonging to Krishna Lal Nain. The former had withdrawn Rs 68.5 lakh in total from the latter’s account and transferred to his different accounts.

Later, the culprit returned Rs 44 lakh to the account of the victim. However, the remaining amount is yet to be transferred back to Nain.

The Rajasthan IT department ordered Vodafone Idea to transfer a sum of Rs 27.5 lakh to the user’s account. The incident has raised eyebrows on the safety of customers provided the telecom operator. Issuing SIM cards without properly checking documents, and delaying their activation counts as a major act of recklessness by the company.