SIM sale drop by 75% due to flawed Biometric verification

ue to flawed biometric verification system from National Database Registration Authority (NADRA),SIM sales/reactivation has dropped by 75% Figures for activation of new SIMs or reactivation for older SIMs have dropped in Balochistan and Karachi ever since Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has declared biometric verification to be the only source of activation of SIMs in both these regions after 31st March. From 1st April, no one in these 2 territories can activate their SIMs by calling 789, a service that is still available for people in rest of the country. Franchises and business centers of all the companies in these 2 regions are haunted by the poor verification systems from NADRA which only operate for 2 to 3 hours in the day properly and other then that system is just wrecked by successive link downs. In general, franchises of all mobile operators are situated in close proximity, therefore the Biometric equipment works only at one company’s franchise at one time as the system is not as much efficient to support all franchises simultaneously. Biometric verification is being ineffective for those customers as well who have got their CNIC made before 2004. The Biometric equipment could not read the paper pasted thumb impression because the CNIC was issued on the manually filled forms before the year 2004 without taking thumb impression on computerized equipment as it is practiced at NADRA centers nowadays. It is sad that despite spending billions on the system, cellular operators are the one who have to face the damage for the in-effective systems of government bodies.