7.3 million connections obtained on fake documents shut down: DoT

66 lakh connections axed after subscribers found to be holding more than the legal number of SIM cards

As many as 7.3 million mobile connections, obtained on fake identity or address documents, have been disconnected by telecom operators, the department of telecommunications (DoT) told Parliament on Wednesday.

The department has developed a system to detect fraudulent mobile connections taken on fake proof of identity or proof of address documents and such connections are flagged to the telecom service providers (TSPs) for re-verification.

Till date, DoT has identified about 8.1 million such suspected mobile connections, the details of which have been forwarded to TSPs for re-verification, the DoT said.

Meanwhile, the DoT also investigated about 19.2 million mobile connections held by about 1.6 million subscribers exceeding the prescribed limit of mobile connections which an individual can hold.

“About 6.6 million such mobile connections have been disconnected by the TSPs thereby bringing the mobile connections within the prescribed limit for these 1.6 million subscribers,” the DoT said.

A citizen domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and the North East license service area can own up to six sim cards across all the TSPs on a pan-India basis. Those in the rest of India can own up to nine sims.

Officials said the complaints were received on the ‘Chakshu’ platform which enables citizens to report suspected fraudulent communication from mobile numbers via calls, SMS, or social media like WhatsApp.

Integrated with the DoT’s Sanchar Sathi portal, ‘Chakshu’ will trigger the re-verification and potential blocking of suspected fraudulent numbers. The DoT has indicated that username and details of suspected numbers and those reporting, will remain confidential and will never be shared with anyone.

The government has been cracking down on mobile based frauds and violation of connection rules throughout this year.

In June, the DoT blocked 392 mobile handsets misused in cybercrime, financial frauds related to electricity Know Your Customer (KYC) updates. Re-verification of 31,740 mobile connections linked to these mobile handsets, were also underway.

Earlier in May, the DoT directed telecom operators for pan India blocking of 28,200 mobile handsets which were misused in cybercrimes. Orders for immediate re-verification of a massive cache of 2 million mobile connections linked to these mobile handsets were issued.