Retailers Need to Submit Subscriber’s Mobile Numbers with Old Notes

[Dipika Menon]

Re: Govt Allows Prepaid Top-Ups Up to ₹500 in Old Notes till Dec 15

As per the latest information, retailers or resellers selling prepaid vouchers by accepting old currency notes will have to provide subscriber’s mobile numbers to the respective telecom service providers.

On 24th November, the Finance Ministry allowed prepaid users to do top-ups for a maximum of ₹500 each using defunct notes of ₹500 and ₹1000 till December 15, 2016. Though it was a late move, brought some respite to the common man as more than 95% of mobile phone users are prepaid users. With less cash in hand, the recharges and top-ups for prepaid mobile services have fallen up to 50%.

Hailing the move, Mr. J.S. Deepak, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, said, “We aim to bring ease to consumers and have already waived off USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) charges completely.

Stay Connected:

Meanwhile, Mr. Sunil Sood, MD & CEO, Vodafone India, said, “We thank the government for allowing prepaid top up recharges up to Rs 500 in old currency. This move will benefit millions of prepaid users as they will be able to continue to use their mobile phones to stay connected.”

Facilitate Cashless Economy:

The Government’s decision was lauded by all the telecom operators and Industry bodies as this would not only help subscribers to communicate but also facilitate cashless economy through digital transactions. In fact, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director General, Mr. Ranjan Mathews had requested Telecom Department to accept the ₹500 and ₹1000 demonetised currency notes in the interest of consumers.