Most cyber cafe owners ignore ID card order

Turning a blind eye to the order, a section of cyber cafe owners refuse to implement it. Their excuse — they have not been “informed officially”.

For instance, E-shan Cyber Cafe on Central Avenue is not asking its visitors to produce a photo identity card.

“We have not received any official intimation till date, we only came to know of the order through newspapers. Therefore, we cannot impose any such rule right now. Customers could demand an explanation as to why we want to record their details,” said an employee of the cafe.

There are, however, exceptions as well. For example, in the Entally police station area, all cyber cafes have pasted copies of the order at their offices.

“The Entally police station had informed us about the new rule over a week ago. We have implemented the order since last Sunday. It was difficult convincing our customers to register their details and produce proof of their identity. But things have become a lot easier after the notice was served to us yesterday. Now, we can easily point to the notice,” said Rayees Ahmed of the Jit’s Cyber Cafe on CIT Road.

DC (Headquarters) of Kolkata police, Vineet Goyel, said that a cyber cafe owner cannot refuse to implement the order even if it has not received a notice from the police.

“Not receiving a notice is a rare case. But they still cannot use that as a reason to flout the law. There have been enough publicity campaigns on the matter, both in media and by the government,” he said.

The order clearly spells out that cyber cafe owners have to maintain a register for identity of the visitor/users. The user must fill in the register where one has to mention name, address and telephone number.