The Punjab and Haryana High Court suggested limiting individuals to one SIM card each, questioning the rationale behind allowing multiple SIM cards under one name amid increasing online fraud cases. The law emphasizes security and accountability in mobile communications, aiming to reduce misuse and fraudulent activities.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court called on the Centre to enhance its efforts in monitoring and regulating the distribution of multiple prepaid SIM cards to individuals, highlighting the surge in online fraud cases.
This directive emerged from a case where the court denied bail to a man in Haryana last month. He was accused of procuring 35 SIM cards to facilitate an online scam and subsequently apprehended.
Justice Anoop Chitkara, presiding over the single-judge bench, stated,
“The state government should conduct further investigation regarding such SIM cards and their usage.”
The court also recommended that individuals should be limited to one SIM card each.
The case against him dates back to last year when a man reported receiving a WhatsApp message offering an opportunity to earn money while working from home. Initially, the sender’s repayments built trust, leading the victim to make further deposits. Eventually, he defrauded of over Rs 8 lakh.
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Haryana police uncovered multiple bank accounts and mobile numbers linked to the case. They found that Nandwani operated as a point-of-sale agent, activating SIM cards used in the scam and registering them under various names. He then provided these SIM cards to his accomplices. Nandwani reportedly acquired the prepaid SIM cards using his Aadhar card, prompting the court to question why there are no government regulations limiting individuals to a single prepaid SIM card.
In its interim order dated May 27, the court highlighted the “pervasive threat of cybercrime,” which led to increased vigilance among Indians.
The court observed that many scams are executed using mobile phones, stating,
“After exploiting a certain number of victims, perpetrators often discard or deactivate their SIM cards, obtaining new ones to continue their nefarious activities. Alarmingly, reports indicate that these criminals acquire prepaid SIM cards not only under their own identities but also by deceitfully using the identities of unsuspecting individuals.”
The court also questioned the Ministry of Telecommunications on why it permits individuals, firms, or companies to obtain multiple prepaid SIM cards in their names.
The bench stated,
“Given that the Aadhar Card is exclusively linked to a single SIM card for OTP generation, there seems to be no justification for issuing multiple prepaid SIM cards.”
The court emphasized that limiting individuals to one prepaid SIM card could significantly reduce cybercrimes.
It added,
“Even the Hon’ble Supreme Court recognized the importance of a single mobile number, as reflected in ‘Vernon v. The State of Maharashtra’.”
In this case, the Supreme Court imposed a condition that the two appellants granted bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act allowed to use only one mobile phone each.
Courts and the government previously restricted the sale of SIM cards without identity verification. In its 2005 ruling in ‘State (NCT of Delhi) vs. Navjot Sandhu alias Afsan Guru,’ the Supreme Court addressed issues related to the 2001 Parliament attacks, where terrorists used numerous phones with unverified SIM cards to execute their plan.
Following this, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications issued notifications in 2006 and 2009 banning the sale of pre-activated SIM cards. Unlike prepaid SIM cards, these did not require ID proof or forms and could be immediately activated upon insertion into phones.
However, in 2012, a petitioner approached the court, stating that around 80% of prepaid SIM cards could still be purchased in pre-activated form. He also requested the government to issue guidelines for telecom firms issuing SIM cards.
In the 2012 ruling of ‘Avishek Goenka vs. Union of India,’ a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court directed the formation of a joint expert committee to submit a response to the government. Nearly four months later, the Telecom Ministry issued a circular stating that an individual customer (local, outstation, and foreign) could subscribe to “a maximum of nine mobile connections” across all telecom service providers and Licensed Service Areas (LSAs). For customers in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, and the Northeast LSAs, the limit set at six connections.
The circular also mandated that individuals must declare the number of connections they already hold when filling out customer application forms.
While linking ID cards to phones might seem like a viable security measure, it raises significant privacy and compliance concerns. Apar Gupta, advocate and co-founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation, told ,
“These instructions (on limiting the number of mobile connections) emerged from the government’s licensing power, but there exists a lack of proactive scrutiny and audit of practices by telecom companies.”
Gupta also referenced the Supreme Court’s decision in ‘KS Puttaswamy vs Union of India’ (2018), which upheld the fundamental right to privacy, noting that linking Aadhar with SIM cards is not mandatory. Aadhar is merely one of several identity documents an individual can provide.
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Delhi-based lawyer Radhika Roy commented on the recent Telecommunications Act of 2023, despite the clear mandate in the Puttaswamy case that Aadhar linking with SIM cards should not be mandatory.
Roy explained,
“Section 3(7) of the 2023 Act states that the entity issuing SIM cards must identify the person to whom the service is being provided through the use of any verifiable biometric-based identification. Since the only biometric-based identification in India is Aadhar, one can invariably assume that Aadhar is now mandatory for accessing any telecom services, including purchasing a SIM card,”
The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision to limit the issuance of prepaid SIM cards to one per person marks a significant step in addressing the growing threat of cybercrime.