She repeated the warning while speaking to reporters after the inauguration of Ericsson’s portal, ‘Internet of Things’, and office in Chittagong on Thursday.



Tarana said the government plans to complete all biometric SIM registration within Apr 30.



After that date, the connection of unregistered SIM cards would be initially cut off for several hours to serve warnings, Tarana said.



Such cards would then be blocked once and for all, she added.



At present, operators refuse to sell SIM cards without a customer’s fingerprint after biometric registration was launched on Dec 16 last year.



Old customers are also being brought under the new arrangements.



The High Court recently issued a rule after a person challenged the registration system.



But the operators have stuck to the new system in the absence of a stay order.



Tarana also spoke about the steps taken to revamp state-owned mobile phone operator Teletalk.



She said she was trying to arrange government funds or loans to help it to expand the network.