Somasundaram Ramkumar, a resident of Madurai in India, has sent the entire handset vendor community into a tizzy. Ask why? Mr Ramkumar holds the patent in India for ‘phones with a plurality of SIM cards allocated to different communication networks’ and has asked the Indian customs authorities to disallow import of cellphones with dual SIM cards into the country. CellPassion has secured a copy of the directive from the Office of the Commissioner of Customs of Chennai Airport that has accepted his application and directed customs officials from across the country to stop clearing shipments of dual SIM phones.

And that’s not it, the application remains valid for the next five years or til the time the patent is valid (whichever is earlier). As a result, handset vendors do not have any inventory of phones with dual SIM card slots, which have become quite popular in India.

We also hear that Mr Ramkumar wants Rs 50 ($1) for every dual SIM phone shipped into the country, though we’ve not yet been able to independently verify the claim.

The Indian Cellular Association, a body of handset vendors in India, is said to have formed a committe on the issue as it fears that even local manufacturing of phones with dual SIM cards won’t be possible.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for more developments on this story. Stay tuned in!