Ministry of Telecom to take action against 21 lakh SIM cards activated with fake proof of identity 

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Telecom has decided to take strict action against SIM cards activated with fake proof of identity. The ministry informed that 21 lakh such SIM cards will be cancelled immediately. The authorities have given directions to the leading telecom companies of the country in this regard. A list of suspected SIM card holders was also given. It is reported that the documents submitted by the customers will be examined in detail and if they are not correct, the connection will be cancelled immediately. Out of the 114 crore connections examined using artificial intelligence, 21 lakh SIMs were found to be fake. Some companies have provided connections beyond the limit of nine SIM cards allowed per person.

The authorities decided to take immediate action after finding that most of the SIM cards taken with non-existent and fake documents are being used for cybercrimes or online frauds. Customers can check whether the SIM is legitimate through the 'Sanchar Sathi' portal. The authorities indicate that the current action is a start and soon there will be steps to block SIMs used for illegal activities like cybercrimes and online frauds as well as deactivation of handsets used by those SIMs.