Dhaka: State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Thursday said they would cancel the approval of the retailers if they charge any fee during SIM registration using biometric system.

‘At first we would make them (retailers) blacklisted and then cancel the approval if they charge any money,’ she added.

The state minister sounded the warning at a meeting with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the cellular phone operators at the secretariat against the backdrop of a number of allegations countrywide of charging extra money during the ongoing SIM re-registration campaign.  

Referring to allegations she received in her facebook page, Tarana Halim told the CEOs that ‘there would be no scope to charge extra money for the service.’  

She informed the newsmen that in the meeting they have taken decision ‘to blacklist the retailers through investigation and cancel their retailer-ship’.

Tarana asked the operators to take action against the retailers responsible for taking money immediately to set instance.

Bangladesh as the second country started the biometric SIM registration on 16 December last year to ensure the actual ownership of cellphone users, and the process will be continued till 30 April this year.

Replying to a query on completion of the re-registration process by 30 April, the state minister said they are determined to finish the job in the stipulated time.

On Tuesday, Tarana Halim expressed her dissatisfaction over the progress of re-registration process, saying that ‘the cellular phone operators are not cooperating wholeheartedly, rather they are moving at 'go slow' pace for the process which was not expected from them (operators).

She said the operators should put concentration on strengthening monitoring and team work at field level.