Users of prepaid mobile phone numbers who are disconnected for not registering their SIM cards will have until the end of the year to reclaim any outstanding funds from the phone service operator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) said.
NBTC secretary-general Thakorn Tanthasit said the commission estimated that 10 baht on average remained in the account of each non-registered number to be disconnected.
About 11 million numbers that had been issued had still not been registered. Therefore, the total outstanding amount would be about 110 million baht.
He said although the amount in each account was low, the consumer was entitled to a refund of the unused amount. It could be reclaimed by the SIM owner from the service operator until the end of the year.
Unregistered numbers will be permanently disconnected from Oct 1. The phone service operator can then return the disconnected numbers to the NBTC, or sell the numbers to new users.
The NBTC has a total of 74.5 million registered users, out of 85.5 million issued SIM cards, or 87.13% of the total. The AIS has the largest number, 37.16 million, followed by Dtac with 22.89 million and True 14.45 million.
The government says compulsory registration of all SIM cards is a move to increase the nation's security, in particular by preventing their use to detonate bombs. Observers point out it also makes it easier to track people's movements, and that many other devices can instead be used to remotely detonate explosives.