938 SIMs on fake IDs deactivated so far in last five years: Manoj Sinha

As many as 938 complaints covering 65,991 mobile connections have been received in the last five years with regard to sale of SIMs on fake identity proofs and disconnection was carried out in all such cases, the Rajya Sabha was informed.

"Licence Service Areas of Department of Telecom (LSAs) have received complaints that SIM cards for mobile phones are being sold on the basis of fake identity proofs," Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said in a written reply last week.

Providing an update, the minister said that LSAs had received a total of 938 complaints (from various sources) covering 65,991 mobile connections regarding sale of SIM cards on basis of fake identity proofs in the last five years.

These sources included public grievances portal, law enforcement agencies, state police authorities, banks such as ICICI, postal letters, e-mails and non-governmental organisation.

"All the mobile connections which were found to be issued on the basis of fake identity proofs have been disconnected and FIR/complains have been lodged with the police by the concerned telecom service providers," Sinha added.

Strict guidelines for mobile subscriber verification by telcos are already in place and the rules detail out provisions for lodging of complaint in case of SIMs issued on fake documents, disconnection, and imposition of financial penalties against defaulting telecom players.

Moreover, the Aadhaar-based eKYC process does not require submission of separate documents for address and identity and "therefore the possibility of forgery/misuse of documents submitted by the subscribers can be avoided", the minister noted.