Government has slapped a penalty of Rs 32 crore (Rs 320 million) on mobile operators for failing to adhere to the subscriber verification norms in 2008-09.
"We have imposed penalty on all the mobile operators, including Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, for failing to meet the subscriber verification condition.
"The total amount charged comes to Rs 32 crore for the last fiscal", a department of telecommunication official said.
With a penalty of Rs 1,000 for each unverified subscriber, the number of such users comes to about 3,20,000.
And with the country's mobile subscriber base growing fast, this figure is expected to swell further, say industry experts.
In April, DoT introduced a graded penalty system under which operators pay Rs 50,000 per subscriber if more than 20 per cent of their user base is without valid identity documents.
However,the penalty continues to be Rs 1,000 per user if the mobile operator's unverified subscriber base is less than 5 per cent of its user base in each of the circles.
