The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has implemented an artificial intelligence-based tool to identify mobile connections obtained using fraudulent documents. This initiative has led to the disconnection of 7.83 million mobile connections after re-verification. Additionally, 678,000 connections were terminated due to their involvement in cybercrimes, Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, informed Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question.
He further added, to enhance the know your customer (KYC) framework for issuing mobile connections, the DoT now requires telecom licensees to register their points of sale (PoS), including franchisees, distributors, and agents responsible for customer enrolment and SIM issuance. The new guidelines mandate:
- Indisputable verification of each PoS.
- Biometric verification of PoS personnel.
- Physical verification of business and local residential addresses of PoS.
- Police verification of PoS in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, and North East License Service Areas.
- Inter-se agreements outlining the scope, duties, operational areas, and penalties for violations, including termination clauses.
- Blacklisting of PoS across all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) if found providing false or forged documents, or as directed by Law Enforcement Agencies.
- Re-verification of all mobile subscribers enrolled by any blacklisted PoS.
- A penalty of Rs 1 million per PoS per instance for enrolling customers without registration after January 31, 2025.
Furthermore, the DoT has revised existing KYC instructions by discontinuing the previous bulk connections framework and introducing a business connections framework that mandates KYC for each end-user before activation. A robust KYC process for SIM swaps or replacements has also been established. Notably, paper-based KYC processes were discontinued effective January 1, 2024.
