The Department of Telecom (DoT) has proposed a notion that might
make mandatory for telecom operators to take fingerprint scan before
issuing new SIM cards to customers. Home ministry has suggested Dot to
maintain a central database which will contain the biometric data of all
subscribers. The database can be linked to the National Intelligence
Grid (NATGRID), so all the data remains in one place, for the sake of
National security.
According to a report by economic times, an official has said that
the department will be discussing the matter with all stakeholder,s
including telecom service providers, to reach a conclusion. The official
adds that the present verification systems is not up to the mark due to
competition among retailers to sell more SIM cards.
Last year, DoT made it mandatory for telecom service providers to
physically verify an applicant before issuing a SIM card. However, there
have been complaints from authorities across the country that the
retailers have not been verry respective of this, as there is no strict
action from the service providers.
According to an official, terrorists and criminals have been taking
advantage of this and procuring SIM cards by forging fake documents.
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