Mobile service providers have been ordered to make it easier for customers to switch to mobile operators of their choice while retaining their phone numbers.

The aim of Communications and Information Technology Commission is to promote competition among service providers and ensure better services.

The regulatory authority has stipulated that all mobile operators must abide by new regulations effective May 25.

Subscribers will no longer be required to settle their dues before moving to new providers, according to the CITC order.

“The service provider should not stipulate that an applicant should settle all his dues before switching to another service provider,” CITC spokesman Sultan Al-Malik said in a statement to the SPA yesterday.

“The only condition should be that the service provider ensures that the ID number of the applicant matches the ID registered with it. The service provider can only ask for the dues to be settled after the completion of the porting process,” Al-Malik said.

The current practice is to have applicants settle all dues before the process is undertaken, he said.

“An SMS should be sent to the subscriber to notify him of the amount owed to the service provider,” he said.

The mobile industry has grown from 20 million subscribers in 2006 to 53 million in 2012.