The Indian government will soon issue unique customer IDs to mobile users in an attempt to eliminate cyber fraud cases. The Department of Telecommunication of India has made the necessary preparations to implement this provision very soon.
The unique ID will be assigned to the customer’s primary phone and the additional ones. The move is expected to earn the government its revenues and protect users from any cybercrimes and scams. The unique ID will work similarly to the 14-digit Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Account (ABHA) health ID connected to an Aadhaar Card.
The unique user ID will be useful for tracking SIM cards and user location, helpful in cases of lost, stolen, or missing phones. Additionally, it will also help the government find out the number of SIM cards issued to one single user. Presently, a mobile user in India can have up to 9 SIM cards.
Recommended: India launches Sanchar Saathi portal to track and block stolen/missing phones
The move will allow Dot to assess the cases of fraudulent SIM subscriptions and minimize cyber threats. Likewise, the government will categorize SIM card users based on various demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, educational qualification, etc.
Recently, the Indian government issued a ruling requiring telecom operators to register their SIM card sellers and stop selling SIM cards in bulk.
This series of measures will expectedly remove the issue of “fake’ mobile users in the country. In the last six months, DoT has disabled 6.4 million fake mobile connections identified through facial recognition.