The National Telecommunications Commission recently said it was set to hold a comprehensive review of proposals to improve the implementation of the SIM Registration Act, including requiring the owner to be present during registration, similar to applying for a driver’s license or getting a National Bureau of Investigation clearance.
“The current online registration process has faced criticism as a contributing factor to the surge in text scams, where unscrupulous individuals exploit the system to sell their identities to others,” the NTC said.
Both the regulator and telecommunication companies have raised concerns over the selling of preregistered SIM cards, which can be used for text scams.
The NTC had previously issued a memorandum directing telco players to improve their “systems for SIM registration and implement specific measures to validate SIMS already registered.” It also said it had also proposed a provision “granting the Commission the authority to periodically regulate the number of SIM ownership and possibly limit the acceptable number of valid government-issued identification cards” last year, as a safety measure.
It also recommended the development of a platform where telco players may validate the identity of SIM registrants using government-issued IDs.
Alexander Ramos, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center executive director, told reporters that the government was studying how to establish an ID database that telco players could access during the authentication process. He added that the government was “cleansing” the SIM card registry as text scams have remained prevalent.
According to an October 2024 report by Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Filipinos lost $8.1 billion, or nearly P460 billion, in the past 12 months due to scams mostly launched via text messages.
Registering SIM cards using an app on smart phones, without having to be physically present, was a convenient method for Filipinos. However, security flaws and easy loopholes have led to misuse and abuse, defeating the purpose of registration. Unless the government and the telcos can find a way to make registration more secure, it would seem that we would be left with no choice but to present ourselves when registering.*
