Another proposal to ban the sale of junk SIM cards

According to the draft amendment and supplement to Decree No. 25/2011, the Ministry of Information and Communications has proposed to include the act of buying and selling pre-activated prepaid SIMs, also known as junk SIMs, in the list of prohibited acts.

Specifically, the purchase and circulation on the market of SIM cards with pre-entered subscriber information and pre-activated prepaid mobile services is being proposed to be classified as a group of illegal acts.

In addition, the act of pre-entering subscriber information; using multi-function SIMs, devices with the function of activating subscriber SIMs without having to break the SIM to pre-enter subscriber information; activating prepaid mobile services for subscriber SIMs without completing the entry and storing of full and accurate subscriber information as prescribed are also proposed to be prohibited.

Several other behaviors are also proposed to be included in the prohibited list, such as "forging or using identity documents or legal certificates of other individuals or organizations to enter into contracts" or "illegally disclosing or using mobile subscriber information".

In addition, the draft also proposes to amend the binding conditions when individuals use more than 3 SIMs to replace soft measures that are not bringing the desired results.

Previously, pre-activated prepaid SIMs, also known as junk SIMs, were widely sold at low prices and with high flexibility as users did not need to register any personal information to use them. This situation has caused many consequences such as spam messages, spam calls or anonymous calls, causing social instability as well as wasting telecommunications number resources.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has taken many measures to prevent the sale of junk SIM cards as well as coordinate with network operators to recall junk SIM cards on the market, including 3 large-scale blocking of junk SIM cards.