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NAGPURMaharashtra government’s special court hearing online fraud cases under Information Technology Act, 2000, has slammed the cellular service operators for negligence while asking the Bharti Airtel , to pay Rs1 lakh as compensation to the Pune-based complainant who lost Rs4.16 lakh due to fraudulent transaction from his mobile number through fake SIM card.Adjudicating officer Rajesh Agrawal also directed the nationalized banks, including Panjab National (PNB) to pay Rs1.16 lakh, and State Bank, HDFC and IndusInd, to pay Rs50,000 each to Sandeep Chawre for failure to undertake diligence as specified in Know Your Customer (KYC) laid by the Reserve Bank of India while opening the new accounts. Due to this, fraudsters siphoned of the amount with the help of forged documents. All five respondents have been told to shell out the amount within a month, or else monthly compound interest of 12% would be levied.Coming down heavily on Airtel, Agrawal added that India’s leading telecom operator was negligent in issuing duplicate SIM cards to fake person by not following the procedure laid down by the government as well as its own company documents. “Airtel is jeopardizing sensitive and personal data of all its customers and in a way abetting in commission of frauds related to transaction,” he pointed out.Citing a Supreme Court judgment in Avishek Goenka versus Union of India , the officer noted that the telecom companies’ apathy towards observance of norms/regulations/guidelines, related to proper and effective subscriber verification, has been brought to the fore by it. “The apex court took the note that SIM cards are provided without any proper verification, which causes serious security threat as well as encourages malpractices in the telecom sector. It appears that the concerns raised in SC verdict have not been given any heed by Airtel,” Agrawal, the outgoing principal secretary (IT), observed.“It’s extremely crucial that the telecom companies actively follow the strict security procedures while issuing SIM cards, especially when the mobiles are being increasingly used to undertake financial transactions. In many cases, financial frauds have been committed by using the registered mobile numbers of the accounts holders,” he added.Explaining about SIM cards, the officer informed that it’s a veritable key to person’s sensitive financial and personal information. “Citizens share all their important details with the cellular operators while obtaining it. They repose faith and trust in the company that their details would not be shared, as those could be misused.”The complainant was operating savings account with PNB’s Satara branch and used Airtel number for online banking. On September 11, 2013, his number was suddenly deactivated citing technical error. Four days later, he was shocked to know that Rs4.26 lakh were fraudulently withdrawn through seven transactions.Despite the complaint, PNB failed to freeze the account where the amount was transferred. In police complaint, he blamed Airtel for not protecting personal data and issuing duplicate SIM with his mobile number to the fraudsters. Ironically, due to failure of SBI, HDFC and IndusInd banks to follow KYC norms, none of their customers where the money was siphoned of were traceable on the address and phone number given on the documents.OBSERVATIONS: IN A NUTSHELL* Negligent in issuing duplicate SIM cards to fake person* Flouted procedure laid down by government & own company documents* Jeopardizing sensitive and personal data of all its customers* Abetting in commission of frauds related to transaction* Concerns raised in SC verdict haven’t were neglected