Move to reduce reliance on telco dealers

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is looking into an automated system to reduce mobile phone users’ dependency on dealers.

MCMC enforcement and investigation head Datuk Mohd Shafie Harun said the system is scheduled to be ready by the end of the year.

“The way forward is for MCMC to enforce stricter registration rules so telcos will have to come up with a better system to monitor their dealers,” he said.

“Telcos must train their dealers to comply with standard operating procedure. Local applicants must produce their MyKad during registration while foreign applicants must show their passports,” he explained.

The Star reported yesterday that 15 residents of a lowcost housing area in Batu Caves had been signed up for mobile phone subscriptions without their knowledge.

Each had one principal line and several supplementary lines registered under their name.

They only came to know of it when they received bills, some running over a thousand ringgit, and were hounded by debt collectors.

The residents suspect that their personal information and photocopies of their MyKad, collected by organisations that came to donate foodstuff and other items in the area, somehow ended up in the hands of datastealing syndicates which used their particulars to register the phone lines.

A former telco industry insider said some unscrupulous dealers forge signatures and use photocopies of MyKad to register mobile phone accounts.

Dealers stand to get about RM200 in commissions for each number they register, as long as the account is active for three months, the source said.

When contacted, a Digi spokesman said the company took “a strong stand” against mis handling of customer information, with strict action taken against irresponsible dealers.

“Breaches and noncompliance by errant dealers have led to the termination of their dealerships,” the spokesman said, adding that new registrations are now a fully digital process across the company’s stores and dealerships.

Customers are also required to be physically present when registering accounts.

Their personal information is verified through Digi’s Mobile Sales Agent application, an automated solution that includes the use of MyKad readers and optical character recognition.

“These measures were put in place to circumvent manual bypass or intervention when dealing with registration and handling of customer information,” the spokesman added.

Maxis said it also had a stringent customer registration process in place with each customer registered via a digital process.

“The customer must be present to do a biometric validation.

“Registration of customers coming from dealers undergoes an internal secondary check to ensure authenticity,” the company said.

U Mobile said its registration process was fully within the regulations set by MCMC and the Government.

Registration of customers coming from dealers undergoes an internal secondary check to ensure authenticity. Maxis