UNB, Dhaka :The High Court on Monday issued a rule upon the authorities concerned to explain why the biometric registration of subscriber identity modules (SIMs) and Removable User Identity Modules (RUIMs) should not be declared illegal.An HC bench comprising Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice AKM Shahidul Huq passed the order after the primary hearing on a writ petition. The home, law and telecommunications secretaries, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission(BRTC) and mobile phone operators-Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink, Airtel, Citycell and Teletalk-have been asked to come up with their explanations within two weeks.On March 9, lawyer SM Enamul Haque filed the writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of the SIM/RUIM registration through the biometric process. Muktadir Rahman, the counsel for the petitioner, said subscribers need to give fingerprint for registration, activation and verification of SIMs and RUIMs as per a BRTC instruction.Noting that foreigners possess the ownership of five of the six mobile phone operators that count for 97 percent of customers, he said, “We don’t know how these information are being used.”Muktadir also said the writ petition was filed on apprehension that one’s privacy and neutrality will be violated in the biometric system. “We have no objection if the government collects the information instead of a third party.” The SIM/RUIM registration through the biometric system formally began on December 16 last which is supposed to end within April.
