FINGERPRINT VERIFICATION TO BUY NEW SIMS

The Department of Telecom is planning to ask the telecom operators to take fingerprints or any other biometric feature of the subscriber, similar to the system in Aadhar, before activating the connection. The telecom department has noted that despite making physical verification system mandatory, cases of unauthorized distribution and access of SIM cards haven't reduced.
According to an Economic Times report, the telecom ministry in its note to the DoThas recommended the department to have a central database, featuring biometric details of all subscriber and an option to link with the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) for keeping data at one place.
The report quotes an official as saying the DoT will first take up the matter with all stakeholders that includes service providers before launching the system. "The issue was discussed even during the chief ministers' conference on internal security here last month when it was pointed out that how SIM cards were being procured by terrorists/ criminals on the basis of forged documents in absence of retailers'and distributors' failure to adhere to the mandatory norms of physical verification," said an official.
It's notable the government already has stringent policies for issuing SIM cards. The telecom department last year had made it compulsory for the operators to conduct a physical verification of the applicant before activating a connection. However, there have been multiple reports of the system not being implemented properly.