In a throwback to late 1990s, people in Jammu forced to visit cyber cafes to access internet

A band of youth are huddled up inside a shop with their eyes glued to their smart phones at a bustling marketplace in Jammu. A dozen-odd cross back plastic chairs and a small worn out wooden table with a brand new modem placed on it is all that the newly set up shop houses. The shop promises seamless internet service to its young customers. The charges are fixed — Rs 40 for an hour.

After the Modi-led BJP government put paid to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir last year, the authorities cut off all communication lines in Kashmir while cellular data services were blocked in Jammu.

Although the authorities restored low speed 2G internet in both Jammu and Kashmir divisions with access to a select websites in January this year, the broadband and lease lines work only in Jammu.

The protracted internet ban has prodded many small business men to set up internet cafes and other such facilities across Jammu city. The cityscape has witnessed dozens of such facilities over the past seven months with mostly young men as their customers.

"I set up the shop two months after the government barred the internet services in Jammu and Kashmir. The customers here use WiFi on their phones," said the owner of a shop. The internet cafe owners earn Rs 1000 to 1500 a day. Many recharge kiosks and grocery stores have also started offering WiFi connectivity, charging Rs 40-60 per hour. Some of them have even come up with special offers for the users. A hand written poster put up on the glass door of a shopfront reads:

"For PUBG lovers we charge Rs 100 for full day".

"This is a special offer for those who love to play PUBG. We also provide special discounts for students and our regular customers as well," said the owner of the shop, who also offers online utility services.

The internet access, however, is provided only after a customer provides his complete contact details and presents an ID proof.

The prolonged internet shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir has caused gargantuan losses to the business community in the region. According to Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries( KCC&I), the Valley of Kashmir, where the ban was also imposed on broadband and lease lines, suffered a whopping 1.47 lakh crores loss over five months since August 5 last year.

An office bearer of a trade body in Jammu told National Herald that they had written to the Lieutenant General to form a "loss assessment panel" to assess the losses suffered by the business community since last August.

"Obviously the losses are huge, but we have not assessed them. We have already shot off a letter to LG to this end," he added.

A few food courts and coffee shops in the town have been wooing the customers by offering them WiFi connectivity.

"If you eat and drink up to Rs 120, we will provide you free access to internet" said a waiter at a small coffee shop located on the Residency road.

However, some young internet users complained that they were being charged arbitrarily and there was no check on the rates.

"Here you have to pay Rs 40 for an hour, but if you visit another internet cafe located merely a few shops down the streets, you will be charged Rs 60 for the same", said 22-year-old Rahul Sharma, using a WiFi inside a cafe at posh Gandhi Nagar locality.

After the advent of pocket internet, the cyber cafes in Jammu well-nigh vanished completely. However, the nullification of special position of Jammu and Kashmir marked their return though in a different way.

These new cafes no longer house desktops with CRT monitors, but facilitate a direct internet access to the mobile phones of their customers.

" It seems a throwback to the late nineties. Again crowds of young men show up at such places to use the internet," said 45-year-old Rakesh Gupta, a local business man.