Delhi, December 1: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has a new rule for SMSs. The department has asked telecom service providers Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea to stop the SMS facility (both incoming and outgoing) during the SIM exchange or upgradation process. The SMS services will be disabled for 24 hours after the activation of the new SIM cards. Telecom service providers have been given 15 days to implement the new rule by the department.
This has been done to address the risk of SIM swap frauds, one of the most-common cybercrime in the country. After receiving a request to change a SIM card or number, telecom operators will also have to send a notification of the request to the customers, according to a report in Livemint. The telecom company also needs to check the receipt of the new SIM card through an IVRS call to the subscriber on the current SIM card, to authenticate the request, and the receipt of the new SIM. In case the customer rejects the SIM card upgrade request at any point, telecom operators have been asked to stop the SIM upgrade process immediately. DoT Asks Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Not To Install 5G Base Stations Within 2.1 km From Airports
What is SIM Swap Fraud?
Fraudsters obtain confidential information about a customer through fake calls or phishing. They then use the same information to approach the telecom service provider for a duplicate SIM card. Once the SIM card is issued, the old SIM in possession of the customer gets deactivated and they get control over the victim’s mobile number and get access to all the confidential OTP numbers and messages. Thus, transferring money from the victim’s account to theirs. Airtel Recharge Plan Update: Price of Minimum Monthly Recharge Plan Raised by 57 Percent to Rs 155 in Haryana, Odisha; Pan-India Roll-Out Expected Soon
Meanwhile, DoT last month said that it has addressed TRAI’s apprehensions over potential dilution of powers under the draft telecom bill and the government may look at the option of taking up provisions related to strengthening of the regulatory body separately at a later stage.
(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Dec 01, 2022 11:12 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).
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