Dhaka: The mobile phone operators will be fined Tk 300crore if they exploit fingerprints taken from people for SIM re-registration.

The cabinet decided the penalty during its weekly meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the secretariat at about 11:00am on Monday.

The cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told the reporters, the fingerprints taken for bio-metric registration are not being preserved. There is no option to misuse the fingerprints of the citizen.

He said, ‘Still, if any of the operators exploit the fingerprints, they will have to pay Tk300 crore.’

The cabinet secretary said people are being confused and doubtful on the SIM re-registration issue. The cabinet decided to fix the penalty for ensuring security to people.’