Centre makes police verification of SIM dealers mandatory to curb frauds

The government will soon make biometric and police verifications of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card dealers mandatory to curb cyber fraud and prevent the misuse for criminal activities, Telecom Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw said on Thursday. 

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will also discontinue the current provision that allows business entities to buy SIM cards in bulk. Instead, it will bring in a concept of business SIM connections, he said.

Briefing reporters on the new rules, Vaishnaw said the need to create greater accountability for SIM card dealers came after detailed field tests and discussions with telecom service providers and police agencies showed that dealers are a major source of fraudulent SIM activities. There are an estimated 1 million SIM dealers in the country.

“These reforms are part of our efforts to make users secure. Dealers have a lot of complicity since many of them don’t do the legally mandated verification process. Now, registration will also be made mandatory for all point of sale dealers,” the minister said. Those found to be violating the rules will attract a penalty of Rs 10 lakh.

When contacted, officials from telecom service providers Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio refused to comment.

The new rules, set to be notified by next month, have been necessitated by exponentially rising numbers of mobile phone-linked frauds, officials said.

In May, the government launched the Sanchar Saathi portal, its primary government platform aimed at protecting mobile phone users from various frauds, such as identity theft, forged know-your-customer (KYC), theft of mobile devices, and banking frauds.

Bulk purchases banned
 

The government will also bring in a new business SIM connection rule, which will allow companies to continue buying in bulk but only after disclosing their goods and services tax (GST), Permanent Account Number (PAN) and income-tax information is disclosed. Individuals who receive the connections would have to mandatorily fulfill KYC norms and non-compliance will result in disconnection.

“Many companies and organisations buy SIM cards in bulk. Eighty per cent of those purchases are genuine. But the rest are misused by placing multiple SIM cards in a SIM box device, which then makes automated calls," Vaishnaw said.

The government has also found instances of bulk purchase of SIM cards being activated in batches for committing frauds, and then deactivated, he said.

The minister, however, clarified no limit would be placed on the number of business connections that an entity can buy. Individual subscribers, on the other hand, will continue to be able to maintain a maximum of nine mobile connections.

Vaishnaw said the government would introduce norms to enable the scanning and digital verification of QR codes printed on Aadhaar cards, reducing inefficient paper verifications. The government will also make digital KYC mandatory.

CLEANING UP

5.2 mn fraudulently obtained connections disconnected

67,000 dealers blacklisted, 300 FIRs lodged

66,000 fraudulent WhatsApp accounts blocked

800,000 suspected payment wallet accounts blocked

17,000 stolen mobile phones blocked

300,000 stolen phones traced

Note: Figures are since May 16

Source: Department of Telecommunications