Back in Mumbai I chose to buy an Airtel SIM card for my phone. Buying a SIM card involves handing over your passport to the dealer, who will then make a ‘xerox’, as well as an extra passport-sized photo and proof of some local address. The latter could be a hotel invoice, of which a ‘xerox’ would be made, too. An application form needs to be filled in and all the paperwork then must be sent to the network provider. Apparently this procedure is required by the government, so there’s no way around it.
Now, yesterday I received a message from Airtel, saying they would discontinue service for me because the paperwork hadn’t been sent to them. Today I can’t make any phone calls anymore, nor send SMSs. Great. GPRS still works, though. I have no idea how to contact the store I bought the SIM card at in the first place. I guess I have to buy a new one here and hope these guys are more honest.