Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav announced on Thursday that in order to clamp down on digital fraud, the government has made it mandatory to verify the credentials of SIM card dealers and has suspended the provision of bulk connections.

Prior to this, while introducing new measures, the Minister had stated that the government has made police verification of SIM card dealers mandatory.

Later, he clarified that the verification of SIM card dealers will be done by “license holders” or relevant telecommunications operators and mentioned that a penalty of 1 million rupees will be imposed on those who violate this and engage in malpractice.

In a comprehensive move against digital fraud related to SIM cards, the Minister stated that the government has disconnected 5.2 million mobile connections. Additionally, 67,000 dealers have been put on a blacklist, and since May 2023, 300 FIRs have been filed against SIM card dealers for fraudulent activities.

Furthermore, the Minister mentioned that WhatsApp has independently blocked around 66,000 accounts involved in fraudulent activities.