Fresh KYC For SIM Replacement, Mandatory Police Verification For SIM Dealers: Know All About New Changes

The Department of Telecommunications is bringing a few changes to curb digital fraud.

The government has now made verification of dealers selling SIM cards mandatory and discontinued the provision of issuing bulk connections. Also, the department has announced that it is making police verification of SIM card dealers mandatory.

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the verification of SIM card dealers will be carried out by "the licensee" or the respective telecom operator and added that a penalty of Rs 10 lakh will be imposed on violators.

"This reform introduces the process for mandatory registration of Franchisee, Agents and Distributors (PoS) by Licensees. This will help in eliminating the rogue PoS who by fraudulent practices issue SIMs to anti-social/anti-national elements.

The PoS registration process includes indisputable verification of PoS by Licensee. The process mandates written agreement between the PoS and the Licensees. If a PoS indulges in any illegal activities, it will be terminated and blacklisted for a period of 03 years. All the existing PoS will be registered as per this process by Licensees within 12 months. This will help in identifying, blacklisting and eliminating rogue PoS, from the licensees' system and provide an encouragement to the upright PoS," a statement from the ministry said.

KYC Reforms

To avoid misuse of printed Aadhaar, scanning its QR code will be necessary to capture demographic information.

If a mobile number is disconnected, it won't be assigned to a new user for 90 days. To replace a SIM card, a subscriber must complete the full KYC process, and there will be a 24-hour restriction on sending and receiving SMS after replacement.

In addition to thumb impression and iris-based authentication in Aadhaar E-KYC process, facial-based biometric authentication is also permitted.

Business Connections

Implementing business connections for the issuance of mobile connections to entities such as companies, organizations, trusts, and societies. These entities can acquire multiple mobile connections, but each end-user must undergo full KYC. Activation of SIM cards will occur only following the successful KYC process for end-users and the physical verification of the entity's premises/address.