Crackdown on Digital Fraud: Telcos to use subscriber photo checks to enforce 9-SIM cap

The Department of Telecommunications has told every telecom operator that from August 23 a photograph of any subscriber who has hit the nine-connection limit will be loaded onto its Digital Intelligence Platform, and that operators must download these images daily. From August 24, when someone at the cap applies for a new SIM, the store has to match the applicant against those photos and refuse the connection, in the circular's words, because he already has the maximum number of mobile connections permitted to an individual. The limit is nine connections per person across all operators, and six in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and the Northeast. The check first runs with a one-day lag and must work in real time at the counter by November 30, with any excess connection suspended in the meantime. The move targets the SIM cards bought on fake or borrowed identities that power scams like digital arrest, where callers posing as police or central agencies hold victims in fake virtual custody over video until they transfer money. It is part of a wider crackdown that has already dented these scams, returned defrauded money in over 36,000 cases, and taken the automatic cyber-fraud FIR system to nineteen states. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exclusive content, special privileges & more – Subscribe to ThePrint for Special benefits: https://tinyurl.com/4ymm9wh5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with ThePrint » Subscribe to ThePrint: https://tinyurl.com/4ymm9wh5 » Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3nCMpht » Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theprintindia » Tweet us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theprintindia » Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprintindia » Find us on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/theprint » Subscribe to ThePrint on Telegram: https://t.me/ThePrintIndia » Find us on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2NMVlnB » Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pEOta8