Now telecom companies will do only digital KYC, new rules will be implemented from January 1

Digital KYC: Under the new rule, verification of SIM card vendors has also been made mandatory. Now there will be only digital KYC on purchasing a new SIM. The system of paper verification will end. This will help in dealing with cases related to fake SIM cards and financial fraud.

New rules will come into effect for telecom companies from January 1. There will be only digital KYC when purchasing a new SIM from next year. Apart from this, verification of SIM vendors will also become mandatory. The government had been preparing new rules for a long time to stop SIM card related frauds. Now the new rules will come into effect from January 1. The responsibility of implementing new rules across the country rests with the Telecom Department (DoT). Under this, telecom companies will only do e-KYC of SIM card customers. Till now verification is also done through physical documents.

The central government had announced new telecom rules in August. But there was delay in implementing them. In the new rules, the government has made verification of SIM card vendors mandatory. Apart from this, the system of bulk SIM connection has been abolished. Instead of this, there will be a rule to give business connection. This decision is being considered very important in the fight to prevent online financial fraud.

Telecom agents will be registered

In the new rule, the government has made registration of franchisees, distributors and point-of-sale (PoS) agents mandatory for telecom companies. Telecom dealers and agents will get 12 months time for registration.

This will prevent agents from issuing SIM cards to anti-social elements. Those doing illegal activities will also find it difficult to obtain SIMs, and will help in curbing fake SIMs.

e-KYC for SIM users

Digital Know Your Customer i.e. e-KYC will be implemented from January 1. Those purchasing SIM will have to go through a digital verification system. If a dealer does not do this, he can be fined up to Rs 10 lakh. In case of change of SIM, the verification process will have to be completed within 24 hours of activation of SMS facility.

Protection from Aadhaar card fraud

To prevent Aadhaar fraud, the government has made some provisions in the guidelines. To ensure that no one misuses Aadhaar, demographic details will have to be obtained by scanning the QR code of the printed Aadhaar. This number will not be given to anyone else for 90 days after the SIM card is closed.