NTC looks into requiring personal appearance for SIM card registration

The National Telecommunications Commission is looking into requiring personal appearance for SIM card registration. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will study the possibility of requiring personal appearance for SIM (subscriber identity module) card registration to deter individuals from illegally selling their identities.

This came about as “the current online registration process has faced criticism as a contributing factor to the surge in text scams, where unscrupulous individuals exploit the system to sell their identities to others,” NTC said in a statement on Tuesday.

READ: Globe calls for official ID database to curb text scams

Both the regulator and telecommunication companies have been raising their concerns over the selling of pre-registered SIM cards, which can be used to launch text scams.

Parties found guilty of this crime face imprisonment of six months to six years and/or fines amounting from P100,000 to P300,000.

NTC previously issued a memorandum directing telco players to improve their “systems for SIM registration and implement specific measures to validate SIMs already registered.”

Telco players blocked over 3.3 billion scam texts and deactivated more than 3.1 million SIM cards found to be linked to fraudulent activities last year.