ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has terminated the services of about 2,962 retailers of Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) across the country for not following the procedure laid down by the authority for issuing SIMs.

As per the documents available with APP, the authority also terminated the services of 21 franchise staff and issued warnings to about 532 franchises involved in the same practices. The operation of about 52 franchises had also been terminated while 23.5 million penalties had also been imposed on the franchise.

The authority also blocked about 86,000 mobile devices that were found involved in fraudulent activities. From November 2020 to November 2021, about 600 percent decrease had been witnessed in the sale of fake, illegal SIMs across the country due to steps taken by the PTA.

PTA during the last three years had also blocked about 526,082 fake SIMs.