A lady residing at Wellawatte was devastated after she realised that her phone she left on a table while her car was being washed, was missing. After lodging a complaint at the police station Indira Abeyratne was told to rush to the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) office and make a complaint giving the International Mobile [...]

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Recovering a missing cellphone is almost a lost cause

TRC has 65,000 complaints in its books.
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A lady residing at Wellawatte was devastated after she realised that her phone she left on a table while her car was being washed, was missing. After lodging a complaint at the police station Indira Abeyratne was told to rush to the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) office and make a complaint giving the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of her phone assuring that it will be possible to track down her phone.

It is the public’s responsibility to safeguard their mobile phone devises says Deputy Director, Consumer Relations of the TRC

But Ms. Abeyratne is unaware her complaint is among the 65,000 complaints made and it may take from one month to six months or even more to track down her phone.  “Daily about 100-150 complaints are received at the TRC regarding lost phones. It is not the responsibility of the TRC to find lost phones; we are doing it as a social service. Therefore it is the public’s duty to make sure their phones are safe with them all the time,” said Menaka H.Pathirana, Deputy Director, Consumer Relations of the TRC.

She said if there are court orders, the phones are tracked down without delay, but others have to wait. When an initial complaint is lodged with the Police, it is forwarded to either the TRC or the relevant telecommunication service provider. Depending on the response, the operator or the TRC tracks down the location of the phone.

“If your subscriber identification module (SIM) is lost or misplaced immediately de-register it with your telecommunication service provider. There is a growing trend of using such lost or misplaced SIMs for making nuisance calls and sending text messages as well as to make threats using them,” she said requesting phone users to avoid saving personal photographs, passwords and important messages on their SIMs. 

Indira Abeyratne: How long will she have to wait

Menaka H.Pathirana

“Once a person complained that he had 2,000 phone numbers saved on his phone. As there is no assurance that a phone will be definitely found, it is important to have the phone numbers on a back-up – written down or saved on your computer,” she said.

According to her, though people make complaints about lost phones, they rarely complain about receiving nuisance calls, text messages or even threats. Under the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Act, whoever sends indecent obscene, offensive or threatening text messages or makes such calls, is guilty of an offence and will liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand rupees or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Teenagers are among those who violate this law and most of the time the SIM has been purchased under their parent’s National Identity Card (NIC) or their own NIC number. She said a large number of unwanted text messages are sent and calls made on randomly selected numbers where the sender continues to send SMSs and annoys the recipient of the message.

“Sri Lanka does not have a code of ethics or etiquette in the use of mobile phones. We have not conducted any research or study regarding the usage of mobile phones. There is a need to create public awareness,” she said.

According to the TRC, Sri Lanka has 20.3 million mobile phone users and during the past decade it has increased rapidly from 1.9 million. 

Prof. Dileeka Dias of the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering of the Moratuwa University said that Sri Lanka has no formal body to look into the issues that may arise from the usage of mobile phones.

Waiting in line at the TRC to report missing phones. Pix by Indika Handuwala

 

Lost in the midst of minor offences

Even after the location of a lost phone is traced, the respective police station informed by the TRC and the owner informed to call over at the police station, there is one more hurdle to surmount.

The Sunday Times understands that if according to the entry made to the police, the phone has not been stolen but lost due to the owner’s lack of care, the matter is handled by the Minor Offences Unit (MOU) of the police station which also has hundreds of other complaints of a minor nature to attend to. 

The experience of one person whose phone has been traced but whose papers are in the MOU is that this unit is besieged by people, who have come with their complaints, making it almost impossible to talk to the police officer concerned, unless he is willing to camp out there for hours on end.

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