Government is to introduce tough new regulations on mobile phone users requiring them to carry a certificate of ownership and barring them from using phones belonging to others.
Under the new regulations announced by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRC), users would have to carry a letter from the mobile phone provider confirming that the person carrying the phone is the owner of the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module).
All people would be subjected to checks at security check points for the letter of certification provided by the mobile phone operator to prove the ownership of the SIM card.
TRC Director General, Priyantha Kariyapperuma said subscribers would be officially informed of the new guidelines with their next bill and the system would be effective thereafter.
Under the new regulation if a subscriber wants to give his phone to be used by another person or transfer the phone, he or she should officially notify the mobile phone service provider.
He said that if this regulation was not followed, the owner of the phone would be penalized. “These regulations are not meant to control the usage of mobile phones, but to ensure national security,” Mr. Kariyapperuma said. New restrictions also have been introduced on the use of CDMA phones. The phones could be used only at the registered address.
Currently the CDMA phones are being used almost similar to mobile phones with people carrying them in their vehicles. However it would be an offence to carry the CDMA phones under the new regulations. There are nine million mobile phone users and one million CDMA phone users in Sri Lanka. | 
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