Lok Sabha Question No. 2816 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: Use of Mobile Number for Verification
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Sanjay Seth

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2816 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## USE OF MOBILE NUMBER FOR VERIFICATION

## †2816. SHRI SANJAY SETH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the security measures adopted while using mobile number for verification for provision of benefits under various Government services;
- (b) whether it is mandatory to ask for customer's mobile number in shopping complexes and shopping malls; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) Various Government services are available on digital platforms including  Unified Mobile App for New-Age Governance (UMANG) and Digilocker (for digital access to public documents). These  platforms  may  use  the  mobile  number  linked  to  the  digitally  verifiable  identities  for disseminating  information,  authentication,  etc.  For  securing  the  usage  of  mobile  number,    while registering for/or availing these services, the Government has adopted various security measures as indicated below:

- i. Strengthening the existing Know Your Customer (KYC) framework.
- ii. Mandating  indisputable  verification  of  each  Point  of  Sale  (PoS)  by  Telecom  Service Providers  (TSPs)  while  registering  them  for  issuing  Subscriber  Identification  Module (SIM).
- iii. Blacklisting of PoS across all the TSPs in case of non-compliance of instructions.
- iv. Re-verification of all users enrolled by non-compliant PoS.
- v. Replacement  of  old  bulk  connections  framework  by  a  new  business  connections framework having mandatory KYC of each end-user before activation.
- vi. Introduction of a robust KYC process for SIM Swap/replacement.
- vii. Discontinuation of Paper based KYC process w.e.f. 01.01.2024.
- viii. Launch of a citizen centric services Sanchar Saathi portal (www.sancharsaathi.gov.in) facilitating the citizens to check mobile connections taken in their name and reporting the mobile connection(s) not required/taken by them.

The impact of www.sancharsaathi.gov.in is as under:

|   1. | Number of mobile connections disconnected taken on fake/forged documents                                                                                              | 55.52 lakh                                    |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|    2 | Number of requests resolved under 'Know Your Mobile Connections' facility                                                                                             | 27 lakh                                       |
|    3 | Number of suspected mobile connections reported by citizens and disconnected failing re-verification                                                                  | 13.42 lakh                                    |
|    4 | Mobile phones traced under 'Block Your Lost or Stolen Mobile' facility                                                                                                | 5.60 lakh                                     |
|    5 | Mobile phones recovered by State Police and returned to citizens                                                                                                      | 63,548                                        |
|    6 | Point of Sales (PoS) blacklisted                                                                                                                                      | 70,313                                        |
|    7 | Number of FIRs registered against errant PoSs                                                                                                                         | 365                                           |
|    8 | Number of mobile connections disconnected involved in cyber-crime / financial frauds as reported by law enforcement agencies on National Cyber Crime reporting portal | 2.78 lakh                                     |
|    9 | Mobile phones blocked for involvement in cyber- crime / financial frauds                                                                                              | 1.32 lakh                                     |
|   10 | Accounts disengaged by WhatsApp which were linked to disconnected mobile connections taken on fake / forged documents                                                 | 2.21 lakh                                     |
|   11 | Number of illegal telecom setups busted since 2021                                                                                                                    | 162                                           |
|   12 | No. of principle entities (PE) sending SMS, headers and content templates blocked                                                                                     | 19,776 Pes 30,700 headers 1.95 lakh templates |
|   13 | Number of accounts frozen by Banks and Payment wallets which were linked with disconnected mobile connections taken on fake/forged documents                          | 9.83 lakh                                     |
|   14 | Amount of money saved which was siphoned off by cyber criminals and number of citizens helped                                                                         | More than Rs. 1,000 crore of 4 lakh citizens  |

(b) to (c) No such instructions have been issued.

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