The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will study the prospect of requiring personal appearance for SIM (subscriber identity module) registration in a bid to crack down on individuals selling their identities.
In a statement on Tuesday, March 11, the NTC acknowledged that the current registration process has faced criticism for its alleged contributing role to the surge in text scams.
It admitted that existing penal provisions, specifically imprisonment of up to two or six years and a fine of up to ₱300,000, have not deterred individuals from exploiting the process’ faults.
The Commission said it will now undergo a comprehensive review of proposals to amend the current registration setup, as embodied under Republic Act (RA) No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act.
Among these proposals is the requirement of a personal appearance, similar to the applications for a driver’s license and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance.
Telecommunications companies have been requiring registrants to take a selfie to weed out fraudulent submissions.
The NTC earlier issued a directive to the country’s telco players to enhance their systems for SIM registration and implement certain measures to validate SIMs that are already registered.
It likewise ordered the deactivation of clickable links in person-to-person text messages as an important public safety measure amid the surge in text scams.
Last year, the commission submitted its proposed amendments to the law to both chambers of Congress to include provisions that will grant the NTC the authority to “periodically regulate” the number of SIM ownership.
This includes the proposed limitation of the acceptable number of valid government-issued identification (ID) cards for registrants.
Based on their respective websites, Smart and Dito accept all valid government-issued IDs, as long as there is a photo of the said registrant.
Globe, meanwhile, identified 13 IDs that it is accepting for SIM registration.
Moreover, the NTC is also recommending incorporating provisions in the law to mandate government agencies responsible for administering government-issued IDs to develop a validation platform accessible to telcos.
Globe Telecom Inc. recently pushed the government to establish a validated database where a registrant’s identity can be verified to curb the spread of pre-registered SIM cards.
According to the NTC, the country’s telcos have successfully blocked over three billion scam messages and deactivated over three million SIMs.
It noted that this significantly contributed to the reduction of text scams and SIM fraud.
“The NTC remains committed to effectively implement the SIM Registration Act and achieve the declared objectives of the law,” the Commission said.
RA 11934 was enacted in 2022, with the aim of stopping crimes such as text and online scams by regulating the sale and use of SIMs by mandating registration to end-users.