The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is reportedly going to come out with a fresh set of guidelines around SIM replacement. Once the guidelines come into effect, the customer who is genuinely affected by issues such as damage or theft of SIM cards will be able to replace his/her SIM card very conveniently. According to a Financial Express report, the telecom department had met with the telecom operators to seek their views on how the SIM swap should work out. For the unaware, if your SIM card is stolen, damaged, or the device is lost, you can get a new SIM against it by going to your respective telecom operator and finishing proper verification.
SIM Replacement Mechanism Has been Misused by Many
Many people have misused the SIM replacement mechanism that exists in India right now. Fraudsters get the bank details of users by phishing methods and then go to their telecom operators by portraying them as the original owners of the victim’s SIM card and get a replacement of their SIM by reporting the original one to be lost or stolen. By the time the real owner of the SIM card can understand what is happening, he/she is duped of their money. The telecom department is going to meet with the telecom operators again next week to understand how they can proceed with a proper set of guidelines around the SIM swap issue. The DoT doesn’t want to make the process of SIM verification very cumbersome for the users who are genuinely affected and are looking for a replacement for their original SIM. But the verification shouldn’t be so easy either that the fraudsters can easily dupe people with their hard-earned money. Both the banks and the telecom operators keep on coming out with advisories related to keeping yourself safe from such frauds. But because not everyone is aware, these sorts of frauds keep on happening and need a quick fix.
