The Union Government on Thursday unveiled two key initiatives to limit the issuance of bulk SIM cards and stop fraudulent calls. Speaking to the media, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that police verification is being made mandatory for SIM card dealers and they will also need to undergo biometric verification.
He further said that the registration of dealers at the time of sales has been made mandatory, making them liable for any type of fraud, he said. In another significant step, the government has decided to stop bulk buying of SIM cards and violators will be subject to a Rs 10 lakh fine.
Police verification, biometric verification mandatory
According to Vaishnaw, the decision to do away with the bulk connection system was taken after a thorough examination of several bulk connections. "It will be mandatory for new dealers of mobile SIM cards to undergo a police verification and biometric verification. Registration will also be compulsory for all point-of-sale dealers now," Vaishnaw added.
The Telecom Minister also informed that the government had detected and deactivated around 52 lakh connections that were obtained fraudulently since the launch of the Sanchar Saathi portal in the month of May. Also, 67,000 dealers involved in selling mobile SIM cards have been blacklisted, Vaishnaw said, adding that FIRs have been lodged against 300 SIM card dealers since May 2023.
Leave a comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *