Lok Sabha Question No. 2966 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-17
Subject: Liability of Mobile Subscribers for SIM Misuse and Cybersecurity
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Shri Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2966 ANSWERED ON 17 TH  DECEMBER, 2025

## LIABILITY OF MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS FOR SIM MISUSE AND CYBERSECURITY

## 2966.   SHRI VIJAYAKUMAR ALIAS VIJAY VASANTH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is true that mobile subscribers may face legal action if SIMs in their name are misused including the dates of the number of cases registered and penal actions taken so far and if so, details thereof and if not, the reasons why Parliament is not being informed;
- (b) whether the  Government has  taken  measures  regarding  use of  tampered IMEIS  and  SIM boxes and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether Government is ensuring verification of SIM applications;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e) whether citizens  being  effectively  educated about  IMEI verification  and  if  so,  the  details thereof  and if not, the reasons of insufficient public awareness; and
- (f) whether Government has any clear strategy to hold offenders accountable without punishing innocent subscribers and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)

- (a) As  per  sub-section  42(3)(e)  of  the  Telecommunications  Act,  2023,  obtaining  subscriber identity modules or other telecommunication identifiers through fraud, cheating or personation is an offence. 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.
- (b) Yes. Government has made necessary legal provisions under sub-section 42(3)(c) and subsection 42(3)(f) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 making tampering with telecommunication identifiers and willfully possessing radio equipment knowing that it uses unauthorized or tampered telecommunication identifiers as offences. In addition, Telecom Cyber Security Rules prohibit any person to intentionally remove, obliterate, change, or alter the unique telecommunication equipment identification number or intentionally use, produce, traffic in, have control or custody of, or possess hardware or software related to the telecommunication identifier or telecommunication equipment, knowing it has been configured in such manner.

(c) & (d) Department of Telecommunications (DoT), through license conditions, has mandated that the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) ensure adequate verification of each and every customer before enrolling them as a subscriber.

(e) & (f) DoT has developed a citizen centric Sanchar Saathi portal and App which, inter-alia, facilitates citizens to check genuineness of mobile handset through International Mobile Equipment Identity  (IMEI).  DoT  is  promoting  digital  safety  and  preventing  telecom-related  fraud  through widespread awareness campaigns under Sanchar Saathi initiative. Explainer videos and infographics regarding  IMEI  verification  have  been  prepared  and  uploaded  on  the  DoT's  social  media platforms. DoT has also launched Sanchar Mitra scheme, through which student volunteers have been engaged to educate citizens about digital safety, fraud prevention, and the use of the Sanchar Saathi portal and app. Their involvement helps deepen awareness at the grassroots level, especially through communication in local languages. Apart from above, citizen outreach includes multilingual news articles and ads, digital screens and hoardings in public spaces, TV and radio messages, locallevel activities by DoT field units, SMS campaigns with TSPs, and extensive social media content. Sanchar Saathi also helps in 'Jan bhagidari' by all citizens in reporting suspected misuse of telecom resources in cyber frauds. By making it easy to report such suspected fraud communications, Sanchar Saathi allows those who understand the risk to actively protect those who do not, enabling authorities & telecom operators to identify patterns and take action on offending numbers & fake connections thus holding offenders accountable while protecting innocent subscribers.

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