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From biometric checks to cap of 9 SIM cards per person, Centre moves to tighten SIM issuance to curb digital arrest fraud
The Department of Telecommunications and Telecom Service Providers have been directed by the committee to explore slashing suspicious SIM blocking time to two to three hours.
The Centre is fast-tracking the biometric SIM verification system (BIVS) to tighten SIM issuance and enable real-time identity checks. (Representative Image)
In a bid to tighten SIM card issuance and curb fraud, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been directed to fast-track the rollout of a Biometric Identity Verification System (BIVS) across all telecom service providers within nine months, The Indian Express has learnt.
The directions were issued by a high-level Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to tackle the threat of digital arrest. They came earlier this month during a high-level committee meeting chaired by a senior MHA official, with inputs from representatives of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and DoT.
“The panel underscored the urgency of a real-time dashboard to monitor SIM issuance per individual from any Point of Sale (PoS), enforcing the cap of nine SIMs per person and one SIM per day. Currently, TSPs track limits only within their networks, sharing data periodically with DoT and License Service Area (LSA) units,” an official said.
According to the official, during the discussion, DoT is learnt to have informed that they currently identify multiple SIMs issued to an individual on a best-effort basis using demographic and facial data, as Aadhaar storage remains legally restricted.
“The proposed BIVS, powered by Digital Ledger Technology (DLT), will create unique digital identities from facial vectors and demographics. This will allow TSPs to check cross-operator limits instantly during onboarding. Now in Proof of Concept (PoC) stage across TSPs, full rollout hinges on notifying the Telecommunications (User Identification) Rules and Authorisation Rules – expected within three months – followed by six months for technical implementation,” the official said.
The official said that DoT and TSPs have been directed by the committee to explore slashing suspicious SIM blocking time to two-three hours. “TSPs have been directed to build mechanisms for sharing suspect spam and scam numbers among themselves, DoT, and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for proactive blocking.”
“The TSPs have also been directed to enhance AI-based fraud detection and monitoring systems, including analytics related to suspicious calling patterns and SIM usage, in a time limit of three months,” the official added.
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