Individuals who entered false information during their mobile SIM card registration would face penalties, including imprisonment, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said on Thursday.
NTC Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan said those who will enter false registration details may face jail time from 61 months to 2 years or a fine ranging from P100,000 to P300,000.
Under our law, if you provide false or fictitious information or used fictitious identity or fraudulent ID to register your SIM, you can be put behind bars,” Salvahan said.
On Wednesday, the National Bureau of Investigation informed the Senate that they successfully registered a SIM using a photo of a monkey when they tested the systems of various telco providers.
This prompted lawmakers to seek amendments to the implementing rules and regulations of the SIM Registration Act.
Salvahan said the NTC has already ordered telco firms to submit data on similar incidents of fraudulent or fictitious registration.
He also warned people against selling pre-registered SIMs as unauthorized transfer may result in imprisonment between 6 months and 6 years or a fine ranging from P100,000 to P300,000.
Salvahan said the NTC is aiming to release the amended IRR of the SIM Registration law next week.
Authorities were also looking at the possibility of limiting the number of SIMs one can register as there was no provision under the existing law on setting a cap.
During the Senate committee on public services on Tuesday, NTC commissioner Ella Blanca Lopez said they have received more than 45,000 complaints on text scams even after the implementation of the SIM registration.
Globe Telecom Inc. earlier reported that it blocked 2.2 billion spam messages from January to June, a nearly four-fold increase from the 615.01 million it logged in the same period last year.
In 2022, Globe said it blocked 2.72 billion spam messages.
PLDT Group, on the other hand, recorded a seven-fold jump in monthlyblocked SIMs to more than 35,000 as of July 2023 from under 5,000 in 2020.
In July alone, it blocked more than seven million phishing messages.