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Pre-paid phone dealers on strike
Thousands of prepaid-mobile customers in Ghaziabad are facing a peculiar problem for over a week now.
Thousands of prepaid-mobile customers in Ghaziabad are facing a peculiar problem for over a week now.
Majority of retailers and distributors in Ghaziabad and some areas in Noida have stopped giving new mobile phone connections and prepaid-recharge services.
Around 2,000 retailers, including mobile phone distributors in Ghaziabad have been on strike since December to protest against the arrest of four dealers and distributors by the Faridabad Police. The distributors were arrested on charges of issuing SIM cards on fake identities.
"These operators were picked up by the police on December 19. The SIM cards issued by them were used by some alleged abductors in a kidnapping case. Our indefinite strike is to demand verification and activation to be handled by the companies themselves, as we have to face police action in case a card is bought with fake identification documents,” said Sanjeev Arora from Ghaziabad Mobile-phone Dealers’ Association.
On Saturday even mobile phone company outlets were also forced to shut shops by the striking dealers.
“We had to shut the store due to security concerns. We have not been able to collect payments and offer other services to our customers,” said a store-manager from a cellular company’s outlet in RDC Rajnagar in Ghaziabad.
Pre-paid mobile phone users and those seeking new connections are also suffering because of the strike.
“I am using my pre-paid credit limit with great caution as no re-charge coupons are available at the outlets,” said Pankil Gupta, a Nehru Nagar resident.
The distributors in Noida have threatened that if their demands are not met by Monday, all the 42 distributors and around 1,500 retailers would observe a complete shutdown in Gautam Budh Nagar District.
