A lawmaker has filed a bill proposing to regulate the sale and distribution of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards ?to discourage unscrupulous people from using these cards in illegal activities?.
Valenzuela City representative Sherwin T. Gatchalian filed House Bill 2624, which mandates the registration of all prepaid SIM cards and requires telecommunication companies to keep a registry of these subscribers.
Gatchalian said the government should follow the lead taken by Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei and other countries that have passed similar laws regulating SIM cards.
Local telcos, however, have earlier filed a position paper opposing such move at the National Telecommunications Commission.
Gatchalian said the seeming boundless stream of supply of SIM cards has become a magnet of nefarious activities.
“We hear countless victims of text scams, ransom demand thru untraceable mobile numbers and mobile phones become triggering devices for bomb explosion that kill hapless civilians in our midst,” Gatchalian said.
The bill directs telecommunication companies to ensure that the users of their prepaid SIM cards are properly identified and their addresses verified through the presentation of valid identification cards (IDs) such as government-issued IDs and company IDs among others.
It provides that proof of payment of the sale shall be evidenced by an official receipt, duplicates of which shall be submitted by the telecommunication company to the NTC.
All existing prepaid subscribers are required to register their SIM cards with their respective mobile phone companies within three months from the effectivity of the proposed law.
Failure to register within the prescribed period shall authorize the telecommunications company to suspend its services to the negligent user.
Telecommunications companies found guilty of violating the provisions of the proposed law will be fined of P300,000 for the first offense; P500,000 for the second offense and P1,000,000 for the third offense and subsequent offenses.
