Dhaka: SIMs and RUIMs which will remain unregistered after 30 April will be deactivated shortly after the deadline, said State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Sunday.

‘At first, the unregistered SIMs will be deactivated for three hours on 1 May and those will be deactivated permanently in a very short time,’ she told a rally at Dhaka University’s TSC, reports UNB.

Private mobile phone operator Airtel organised the awareness rally about biometric SIM registration.

Tarana urged all to be ‘conscious citizens’ completing the re-registration of their SIMs/RUIMs through the biometric system.

She also revealed that seven crore of over 13 crore mobile phone users have already re-registered their SIMs and RIUMs, hoping to complete the process by the stipulated deadline of 30 April.

The state minister also expressed the belief that it will be possible to prevent those involved in criminal activities, including illegal VoIP business, once the SIM re-registration process is completed successfully.

Posts and Telecommunications Secretary Foyzur Rahman Chowdhury, Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique, BTRC chairman Shahjahan Mahmood, CEO of Airtel PD Sharma, among others, took part in the awareness rally.