The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has developed AI based tool for identification of mobile connections obtained on fake documents and based on the analysis, 78.33 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected by the telecom service providers after reverification. Further, 6.78 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected based on the reporting for involvement in cybercrime, according to Minister of State for Communications Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar.
In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Chandra Sekhar said, “to strengthen the existing Know Your Customer (KYC) framework for issuing mobile connections to subscribers, DoT has now mandated telecom licensees to register their point of sale (PoS) franchisee, distributors and agents, who enroll customers and issue SIM cards on behalf of licensees.
These guidelines, inter-alia, mandate:
- Indisputable verification of each PoS;
- Biometric verification of PoS;
- Physical verification of address of place of business and local residence of PoS;
- Police verification of PoS in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and North East License Service Areas (LSAs);
- Signing of inter-se agreements having specific provisions related to scope and duties of PoS, area of operation (limited within the LSA), penal action for violation including termination of agreement;
- Blacklisting of PoS across all the TSPs if documents/ information given by PoS is false/ forged and on the directions of law enforcement agencies (LEAs)/ LSAs;
- Re-verification of all mobile subscribers enrolled by that blacklisted PoS;
- Penalty of Rs 10 lakh per PoS per instance if any existing PoS is found enrolling customers without registration after January 31, 2025; etc.
Further, DoT has also amended existing KYC instructions which includes discontinuation of earlier bulk connections framework and introduction of business connections framework where KYC of each end-user is made mandatory before activation. Further, a robust KYC process for subscriber identity module (SIM) swap/ replacement has also been introduced. Paper based KYC process has been discontinued with effect from January 1, 2024, the minister added.
