Lok Sabha Question No. 1672 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-13
Subject: Sanchar Saathi
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Bhola Singh, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Raja Amareshwara Naik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1672 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## SANCHAR SAATHI

## 1672.   SHRI BHOLA SINGH: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR: SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has launched 'Sanchar Saathi' that empowers citizens to find out mobile connections issued in  their name,  report fraudulent connections, report stolen/lost  mobile handsets etc.;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of the cases registered by the Government through the Sanchar Saathi portal;
- (d) the number of fraudulent mobile SIM cards detected through this portal and the number of mobile connections that were terminated; and
- (e) the other steps being taken by the Government to create awareness among people to take benefit of this portal?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) & (b) Government is committed to ensure safety and security of telecommunication users. Government  has  launched  Sanchar  Saathi  portal  (https://sancharsaathi.gov.in)  which  empowers citizens:

- (i) to  know  the  mobile  connections  issued  in  their  name  and  report  the  mobile connections for disconnection which are either not required or not taken by them,
- (ii) to report the stolen / lost mobile handset for blocking and tracing,
- (iii) to check the genuineness of mobile handset while buying a new/old device,
- (iv) to report the incoming international calls received with Indian telephone number as calling line identification,
- (v) to check the details of licensed wireline Internet Service Providers.
- (c) & (d) As on date, the outcome of Sanchar Saathi portal is as under:

|   1 | Number of mobile connections disconnected taken on fake/forged documents   | 55.52 lakh   |
|-----|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|
|   2 | Number of requests resolved for 'Know Your Mobile Connections'             | 27 lakh      |

|   3 | Number of suspected mobile connections reported by citizens and disconnected failing re- verification                                                                          | 13.42 lakh   |
|-----|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|
|   4 | Mobile handsets traced for 'Block Your Lost/Stolen Mobile'                                                                                                                     | 5.30 lakh    |
|   5 | Mobile handsets recovered by State Police and returned to citizens                                                                                                             | 59,585       |
|   6 | Point of Sales (PoS) blacklisted                                                                                                                                               | 70,313       |
|   7 | Number of FIRs registered                                                                                                                                                      | 365          |
|   8 | Number of PoS involved in FIRs                                                                                                                                                 | 1,957        |
|   9 | Mobile handsets blocked for involvement in cyber-crime /financial frauds                                                                                                       | 1.32 lakh    |
|  10 | Number of mobile connections disconnected reported by law enforcement agencies on National Cyber Crime reporting portal reportedly involved in cyber-crime / financial frauds. | 2.78 lakh    |
|  11 | Accounts disengaged by WhatsApp which were linked to disconnected mobile connections taken on fake/forged documents                                                            | 2.21 lakh    |
|  12 | Number of accounts frozen by Banks &Payment wallets which were linked with disconnected mobile connections taken on fake/forged documents                                      | 9.83 lakh    |

In  addition,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  existing  Know  Your  Customer  (KYC) framework, Government has amended the instructions which, inter-alia, include:

- (i) mandatory  indisputable  verification  of  each  PoS,  who  enroll  customers  and  issue SIMs on behalf of licensees,
- (ii) blacklisting of PoS across all the TSPs in case non-compliance and re-verification of all users enrolled by that PoS,
- (iii) discontinuation of earlier bulk connections and introduction of business connections where KYC of each end-user is made mandatory before activation,
- (iv) introduction of robust KYC process for SIM Swap / replacement,
- (v) discontinuation of paper-based KYC process w.e.f. 01.01.2024.

(e) Sanchar Saathi portal has become very popular in short span of time and   has been visited by 3.41 crore visitors as on date. Approximately, 35 crore awareness SMSs about the portal have been sent.  Informative  material  has  been  shared  through  social  media  handles  of  Department  of Telecommunications and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs.

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