PANAJI: Director General of Police (DGP) Dr Muktesh Chander has claimed that criminals are obtaining mobile SIM cards fraudulently with ease as telecom service providers are not verifying the user details properly.
On Friday, Chander chaired a meeting at the police headquarters in the city with representatives of telecom service providers, officials from Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cell, officers from prosecution department as well as police officials during which various issues related to coordination including obtaining mobile SIM cards on fake or forged documents were discussed.
One of the important issues discussed during the meeting was pertaining to fraudulently obtained mobile SIM cards, Chander told media persons. “From 2016 to 2017 (till date), we came across 15 such cases wherein criminals fraudulently obtained SIM cards. A few months back, we had held a similar meeting requesting telecom service providers for a thorough verification of customers procuring mobile SIM cards. There are government guidelines too,” said Chander adding that “but at ground level, it is seen that verification is not being done properly and criminals are fraudulently obtaining SIM cards with ease.”
Goa police have registered FIRs in 15 such cases (obtaining SIM cards fraudulently) and police came across these cases while probing other criminal cases, said Chander adding that in some of the cases SIM card retailers/dealers have also been arrested. “These SIM cards were issued and used in Goa and in most cases, foreigners were using these SIM cards in criminal activities such as drugs peddling and other crimes,” said Chander.
Replying to a question, Chander said, “We will do verification of new mobile SIM card users if given to us (by the government) like we do passport verification. KYC norms are thrown to dust. We detected 15 such cases which we came across during the probe and there could be many more. Hopefully, the biometric verification could solve this problem.” “It becomes difficult to track down people who are using SIM cards obtained in a fraudulent manner. Such people can be involved in terrorist activities or could be part of sleeper cells,” said Chander.
Crime Branch SP Priyanka Kashyap said, “We are writing to the TERM cell for necessary action in this regard. In such cases (for each fraudulently obtained SIM card), telecom service provider can be penalised with a fine upto Rs 50,000 and further consequential penalties are there.”
Meanwhile, telecom service providers feel that the issue will be resolved in the coming days with the introduction of Aadhaar-based eKYC process.
According to information, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed all operators to adhere to electronic KYC of Aadhaar as one of the valid documents for getting a new mobile connection. “By using Aadhaar card biometrics data for a new mobile connection, the entire verification process is done online that eliminates unauthorized connections. It also addresses the security concerns, as it can be tracked as to who has taken the mobile connection,” said officials from telecom service providers.
“Jio was a pioneer among other operators to commence with e-KYC to acquire new costumers. Other operators have also adopted e-KYC process. Most of the retailers have been equipped with e-KYC biometric device,” said officials.
The officials said that recently, the Telecom Ministry has instructed them to commence the process of linking all existing and future mobile phone numbers to Aadhaar data. The phone numbers will be re-verified with the Aadhaar information. This process will be applicable for both prepaid as well as post-paid customers through Aadhaar-based eKYC process.