Telangana NRI lands in jail for defaulting telephone bill in UAE

Sridhar had obtained a SIM card sometime back in Dubai but he is not using it. He believed that since he was not using the SIM card, there would be no charges. Sridhar was recently arrested by the police in Sharjah Airport when he was boarding a flight to Hyderabad for his vacation.

Dubai: The easy method of purchasing latest model smart phones with post-paid packages of telecom companies could prove to be a boon for many newly arriving Telangana expatriates in Gulf countries, but it could become a hazard as they are trapped into debt and legal complications by some fraudulent middlemen.

Many of these youths are not even aware of what documents they are signing and what could be implications for just a trifling amount. The case of Sunkari Sridhar, a native of Jagtial district who was working as labourer in UAE and obtained a SIM card, exemplifies the modus operandi.

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Sridhar had obtained a SIM card sometime back in Dubai but he is not using it. He believed that since he was not using the SIM card, there would be no charges. Sridhar was recently arrested by the police in Sharjah Airport when he was boarding a flight to Hyderabad for his vacation. Immigration authorities handed over him to the local police who informed that he owed 12,800 Dirhams, equivalent to Rs.2.95 lakh to a local telecom company for the purchase of a smartphone. He was informed that he also had purchased the latest model of smartphone along with a post-paid SIM.

Sridhar claimed that he was not aware of any such purchase and blamed a middleman who acted like helping him out to obtain the SIM card. He is currently behind bars.

There are several men from Telangana trapped in such deceptive methods in purchase of smartphones on instalment basis from telecom companies, who are facing travel ban and legal consequences for willful default. The telecom companies, bank and other creditors approach court with the evidence of nonpayment. In Kuwait also, there are similar cases been reported randomly and also elsewhere in the region.

The local laws in the Gulf region allow for the imprisonment of debtors who fail to comply with court-ordered payments.