The House of Representatives has approved a couple of interesting bills lately. One of them is the SIM card registration bill.
Last Monday, the SIM card registration bill, also known as House Bill No. 5793, was passed on the final reading in the house of representatives with a 181-6-0 vote from the lawmakers.
For those who haven’t heard of it, this bill, once turned into law, buyers of new prepaid and postpaid SIM cards will be required to complete a control-numbered registration form. They are also required to present a valid ID with a photo.
The said form will ask for the user’s full name, birth date, gender, and address.
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Besides the new buyers, existing prepaid SIM card owners will also be asked to comply. If a user fails to complete a registration process, the telco provider will be tasked to deactivate its services to the user.
Even the foreigners who will purchase a SIM card during their stay in the country are also covered by the proposed law.
SIM card registration bill was pushed after the rise of food delivery scams, the recent SMS spam spree, and other digital crimes that’s rampant due to the anonymity of the SIM users’ identities.
The telco companies and direct sellers will have to submit the updated data of registered SIM owners to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) every six months.
For privacy, the bill has a confidentiality clause that prohibits the disclosure of any of the subscriber’s information unless subpoenaed or ordered by the court. Telcos and direct sellers who will fail to comply with said rules may face suspension of operations and a possible fine of up to Php1 million for telcos and Php50,000 for direct sellers.
Other than the SIM card registration bill, the congress also approved a bill that will allow telcos to put up cell sites in residential villages.
Via: CNN