Government discontinued bulk sale of mobile SIM cards and made police verification of dealers mandatory
In order to combat the issue of fraudulent SIM cards, the government has made police verification of SIM card dealers mandatory and discontinued the provision of bulk connections, said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
"Now we have made police verification of SIM dealers mandatory to curb frauds. Penalty of ₹10 lakh will be imposed on dealers found violating norms," Vaishnaw said. He said that there are 10 lakh SIM dealers and they will be given sufficient time for police verification.
He also informed that the Department of Telecommunications has stopped the provision of bulk connections and a new concept of business connection to be introduced.
"Besides, KYC of businesses, KYC of person taking handover of SIM will also be done," Vaishnaw said.
52 lakh mobile connections have been discontinued by the government, said the minister. While 67,000 dealers have been blacklisted, 300 FIRs have been filed against SIM card dealers since May 2023.
The minister said WhatsApp on its own blocked around 66,000 accounts that were involved in fraudulent activities.
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