Introduction of new SMS rules – 15 days deadline for telecom companies!

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has come up with a new rule for SMS. The country’s leading telecom companies including Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea have been asked to follow the new rule.

According to the new SMS rules brought by the Department of Telecommunications, in case of buying a new SIM for the same number while the user is already using the same number, the concerned telecom companies must ban or suspend the incoming and outgoing SMS service for that SIM for about 24 hours after the SIM is activated. The Central Department of Telecom has taken this decision to protect users from sim swap scams.

Under this new rule, telecom operators including Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea will have to suspend SMS services for a specific SIM card for 24 hours after activating new SIM cards during SIM exchange and SIM upgrade request events by users. The Central Department of Telecom has given 15 days time to the telecom service companies to implement this new rule.

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And as per DoT’s new rule, after receiving a request to change SIM card or number, telecom operators will have to send a notification of their request to specific customers. The user holding the specified SIM card must confirm his request through an IVRS call.

The request comes from an authorized user who owns the SIM card. This process will help ensure that no fraudulent individuals are involved. Similarly, telecom companies have been asked to stop the SIM upgrade process immediately at any time a customer rejects the SIM upgrade process, even if the customer does not confirm the request.

These new rules by the Central Department of Telecom are aimed at curbing the menace of SIM swap scams, one of the most common cybercrimes in our country. In 2016 and 2018, the DoT released detailed procedures for obtaining express consent of customers for issuing new SIM cards. The DoT through the new rules has further outlined detailed steps to be taken while handling SIM upgrade, swap request, etc., including multi-layer verification once a customer raises a request for a new SIM.

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What is SIM swap fraud?

After getting one’s personal information through fake calls or phishing, fraudsters approach one’s telecom service provider and use the fraudulently obtained data to buy a duplicate SIM for an existing number. The SIM in the hands of the genuine user is deactivated and the new SIM in the hands of the fraudsters is activated. Through this OTP is accessed and frauds are committed and financial losses are caused.