Keeping in view the increasing cases of cyber fraud and reports of hundreds of SIM cards being activated on a single identity card, the government has now tightened the rules for the sale of SIMs.
The government has done away with bulk SIM issuance. Now only the telecom companies have to do the verification of the dealers selling SIM cards. Telecom companies will not allow any shop to sell their SIM cards without KYC. If the company allows the sale of SIMs without KYC, it will be fined Rs 10 lakh per shop.
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav says that the government is taking strict action against fraud. The government has blocked 66,000 fake WhatsApp accounts. 67,000 SIM card dealers have been blacklisted. Not only this, 52 lakh mobile SIMs have also been closed so far. Ashwani Vaishnav says that so far around 8 lakh bank wallet accounts used by fraudsters have been frozen.
The new rules are aimed at preventing the fraudulent sale of mobile SIM cards. The rules will come into effect from October 1 and telecom operators will have to register all point of sales (POS) before September 30.
The Department of Telecom has also announced a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on telecom operators for selling SIM cards through unregistered dealers. Merchants selling SIM cards will now have to undergo biometric verification along with police verification. Apart from this, registration has also been made mandatory. Registration will be the responsibility of the telecom operator.
Currently, the government has given 12 months time to the merchants selling SIM cards, in which they can get their verification and registration done. With the help of this move, the government will identify cheaters, blacklist them and remove them from the system.
What if the SIM is lost?
In case the old SIM card is lost or damaged the user will have to go through a detailed verification process while getting a new SIM card of the same number.
