IN AN unexpected move, the union government on Thursday lifted the ban on pre-paid mobile phones which was imposed nearly 2 months ago in Jammu and Kashmir. The government has however imposed strict conditions for the verification of the customers for the issue of prepaid SIM card and it is believed that the onus would be now on operators to maintain probity.

The decision comes after the union government finalised a foolproof plan to verify the 38 lakh cell phone subscribers in Jammu and Kashmir. The union government had imposed the prepaid ban in November last year after it was found that a huge number of SIM cards had been issued without proper verification and many of these were being used by terror groups.