Apart from overhauling the KYC norms, DoT is also planning to launch the Telecom Analytics for Fraud management and Consumer Protection (TAF-COP) portal pan-India within two months
In a bid to curb the menace of financial frauds, the department of telecommunications (DoT) is planning an overhaul of the know-your-customer (KYC) norms to tackle the issue of fake SIM cards, according to people aware of the matter.
Key highlights of the upcoming KYC norms include reduction in the number of SIM cards issued on a single ID to five from the current nine, complete use of digitally-verified documents for issuance of SIM cards, penalties and imprisonment on misuse of SIM cards and fake documents given by consumers, among other things.
The new KYC norms will be notified within six months by the Artificial Intelligence and Digital Intelligence Unit (AI & DIU) wing of DoT in consultation with a national working group, which includes the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) and other government representatives.
Apart from overhauling the KYC norms, DoT is also planning to launch the Telecom Analytics for Fraud management and Consumer Protection (TAF-COP) portal pan-India within two months. The portal, which is currently active in states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir, among others, will help subscribers check the number of mobile connections working in their name, and take necessary action if there are any additional mobile connections in their name without their knowledge.
“The discussions are currently ongoing with regard to finding out robust KYC mechanism by making digital document verification mandatory to tackle the issue of fake IDs,” a government official said, adding that the plan is to strengthen the TAF-COP portal and Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portals.
CEIR portal acts as a central system for the telecom operators to share blacklisted mobile devices so that devices that are blacklisted on one network will not work on other networks even if the SIM card in the device is changed. Using the portal, the users can also check the authenticity of the devices and can also report stolen mobile devices.
The CEIR portal, which was launched in 2019, was made available to all subscribers in the country last month.
In order to identify fraud SIM cards and block them, solutions powered by AI and facial recognition for telecom SIM subscriber verification (ASTR) is also being implemented by the government pan-India.
ASTR, which was started as a pilot programme in Haryana’s Mewat, uses subscriber images provided by them in their customer acquisition forms (CAFs) and compares the same to similar images using facial recognition technology. Simply put, a lot of SIM cards which are being provided on forged documents and in the name of a third party are used to carry out cybercrimes and the same becomes difficult to detect.
Using ASTR, the system detects the same image used by a subscriber under different names using forged documents. It also checks the address and other KYC details such as guardian name, date of birth, etc.
In the telecom reforms of September 2021, the government introduced the provision of Aadhaar based e-KYC process for issuance of SIM card. The upcoming changes in the KYC norms will be an extension of that.
Currently, there are 97% SIM cards issued through digitally verified documents. The target is to make it 100% in order to curtail cyber frauds, a government official said, adding that the aim is to tackle the issue of impersonation.
The upcoming Telecom Bill also contains provisions for a stringent KYC process to protect users from fraud.
