New Delhi: Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, on 17 December, said the Telecommunications Act, 2023, has strengthened legal provisions to curb telecom-related frauds, including misuse of SIM cards and device identifiers.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, he said obtaining SIMs or other telecom identifiers through fraud, cheating or impersonation has been made a punishable offence under the law.
The Act also criminalises tampering with telecom identifiers and the wilful possession of radio equipment using unauthorised or altered identifiers. In addition, the Telecom Cyber Security Rules prohibit altering or misusing unique equipment identification numbers and related hardware or software.
The Minister said the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated strict customer verification norms for telecom service providers before enrolling subscribers.
He highlighted the Sanchar Saathi portal and mobile app, which allow citizens to verify the authenticity of mobile handsets through IMEI checks and report suspected misuse.
MoS Chandra Sekhar has mandated strict customer verification for telecom service providers before enrolling subscribers. He highlighted the Sanchar Saathi portal and mobile app, which allows citizens to verify the authenticity of mobile handsets through IMEI checks and report suspected fraud.
The MoS also mentioned that awareness campaigns, multilingual outreach and the Sanchar Mitra volunteer programme are being used to promote digital safety and enable citizen participation in reporting telecom frauds.
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