Pakistan blocks 10.2mn SIM cards

Islamabad, Apr 23: In attempt to curb the use of cellphones in terrorist activities, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked 10.2 million SIM cards as the identity of their users were not verifiable.

During a meeting with Senate Standing Committee (SSC) on Thursday, Apr 22, the PTA officials said that the 10.2 million SIMs have been blocked as the identity of users could not be verified, while 78 million SIM cards have been verified.

An online news agency quoted the officials as saying that all unregistered SIM that were being used for terrorist activities have been deactivated and the mobile phone companies have been directed to set up a complaint center to assist the police and other investigation agencies.

The suggestions to allow the police to gain access into the consumer data along with the setting up of a legislation to prevent crimes through mobile or land line phones were made during the meeting.

Inspector General (IG) of Islamabad, Syed Kalim Imam, who was present in the meeting, said that police face difficulties it taking action against the culprits due to the mobile phone companies reluctance to divulge data of their customers.

During the meeting, the PTA officials told the committee that under the new system SIM cards will be activated only after prior verification of the applicant's identity.

OneIndia News