The government on Thursday unveiled two significant measures to prevent fraudulent calls and stop issuance of bulk SIM cards. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that reporters that now police verification is being made mandatory for SIM card dealers and there will also be a biometric verification for them.
The Minister told reporters that the registration of dealers at the point of sales has been made compulsory, which will make dealers who sell SIM cards, accountable for any kind of fraud.
In another major step, the government will discontinue bulk buying of SIM cards, the minister informed further, adding that a penalty of Rs 10 lakh will be imposed on those found violating these guidelines.
Vaishnaw said that after a detailed study of several bulk connections, it was decided to do away with bulk connection system.
"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 said.
He further informed that since the launch of Sanchar Saathi portal in May this year, the government detected and deactivated 52 lakh connections which were fraudulently obtained.
