Two-way blocking of more than 4.8 million subscribers, recovery of more than 1.8 million subscribers

Authorized by the Prime Minister, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung reported to the Government on the results of implementing the resolution on thematic supervision and questioning during the 14th tenure and the questioning resolution at the 4th session of the 15th National Assembly, related to the field of information and communications.

Thoroughly handling unregistered SIM cards and minimizing spam messages and calls are among the notable issues reported to the National Assembly.

In 2022, the Ministry of Information and Communications inspected 7 mobile telecommunications enterprises, imposing fines of more than VND 2.9 billion on 7 enterprises and 39 telecommunications service providers (2.92 times higher than the handling results 5 years ago).

The Ministry has issued two warnings and disciplinary actions to business leaders for violations in subscriber information management. The violation records of two telecommunications service providers have been transferred to the police for investigation due to violations of the law on subscriber information management, leading to criminals appropriating SIM cards and taking advantage of bank account money.

sim rac 3 1567 1.jpg — A store selling accessories and SIM cards on 3/2 street.

In 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communications directed the Departments of Information and Communications and units to organize 73 large-scale inspection teams on subscriber information management (from April to June) to strictly handle violations by network operators in the situation of a subscriber having multiple SIMs in violation of regulations and subjects who intentionally registered multiple SIMs (larger than 10, 100, 1000 SIMs).

The Prime Minister has directed the Ministry of Information and Communications to proactively coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to guide, urge and direct mobile telecommunications enterprises to deploy connections and authenticate subscriber information databases with the National Population Database, according to the Government's Project 06. Review and handle cases where subscriber information does not match the National Population Database, or where subscriber information is not in accordance with regulations.

Mobile businesses have completed cross-checking more than 125 million mobile subscribers with the National Population Database, of which more than 108 million subscribers (86.53%) have matching information. The Ministry of Information and Communications has directed businesses to implement measures to review and standardize subscriber information for nearly 17 million subscribers whose information does not match.

By August 30, all 17 million subscribers whose information did not match the National Population Database had been processed. Specifically, 7.2 million subscribers were standardized, 3.172 million subscribers were one-way locked, more than 4.8 million subscribers were two-way locked, and more than 1.8 million subscribers were recalled. In October, businesses will two-way lock the set of subscribers who are one-way locked if customers do not come to standardize their information according to regulations.

Applying technology when registering and developing new SIMs

To ensure the accuracy of new subscriber information, Viettel, VNPT and MobiFone (accounting for more than 96% of the mobile market share) have implemented online verification and authentication of new subscriber information with the National Population Database; the remaining enterprises are performing monthly verification and authentication.

The Ministry of Information and Communications monitors and supervises the status of spam calls through the support system for receiving feedback on spam messages and spam calls (numbers 5656, 156 and website thongbaorac.ais.gov.vn).

The Ministry of Information and Communications has worked with press agencies and network operators to disseminate information to people and users about the prevention, control and handling of SIM cards with information that is not in accordance with regulations. It is recommended that people cooperate with businesses to standardize and correct subscriber information, and join hands in handling the issue of SIM cards with information that is not in accordance with regulations. Timely warn users about the methods and tricks of subjects spreading spam messages and spam calls through the chongthurac.vn Electronic Information Portal.

During the reconciliation process, the Ministry of Information and Communications discovered situations such as: Information is not yet consistent, there is no information, between the enterprise's centralized subscriber information and the National Population Database. Subscribers do not come to standardize, so they must block 1-way and 2-way according to regulations.

There is a phenomenon that some subjects have intentionally registered many SIM cards for sale and some users do not transfer the name or ownership when transferring the right to use the SIM, leading to the situation of SIM cards with incorrect information (“junk” SIMs) that have not been completely handled. From there, many bad subjects take advantage of junk SIM cards to commit illegal acts, causing outrage in society.

In addition to spam messages on traditional telecommunications networks, spam messages appear via the Internet and OTT (Viber, Messenger, Zalo, etc.). At the same time, there is a phenomenon of subjects using high-tech devices to impersonate mobile base stations to spread spam messages, leading to difficulties in prevention and suppression.

Regarding the direction in the coming time, the Ministry of Information and Communications will consider handling cases of network operators violating the law, including proposing to suspend new subscriber development activities, especially if there is an act of providing services to newly developed subscribers with incomplete or inaccurate subscriber information; the act of selling and circulating on the market SIMs with pre-entered subscriber information and pre-activated mobile services.

Improve legal regulations related to subscriber information management in the direction of more clearly defining responsibilities for subscribers registering to own more than 3 SIMs. Require telecommunications enterprises to apply technology (video call, ekyc, ...) in the process of registering and developing new SIMs. Stricter regulations on responsibilities for subscribers when transferring their subscriptions to others.

In addition, the Ministry of Information and Communications will strengthen the monitoring and operation of the support system for receiving feedback on spam messages and spam calls through the receiving numbers 5656, 156 and the website thongbaorac.ais.gov.vn.

For messages and calls that show signs of violating the law, units of the Ministry of Information and Communications will continue to coordinate with the functional agencies of the Ministry of Public Security to handle them.