SIM registration now requires live selfies, says NTC

The National Telecommunications Commission has released a memorandum order requiring telco subscribers to submit live selfie photos during SIM registration.

At a Senate committee hearing, NTC commissioner Ella Blanca Lopez said public telecommunications entities have been given three months to install technologies that will require live selfies.

Lopez said the memo was issued to clean up the registry as there were registrants who used fake IDs and stock images because the telcos had no database to match.

She said the memo included guidelines to weed out fraudulent registrations and find out how many SIMs had been registered only to scam the public.

Lopez said PTEs have been given up to December 18, 2023, to install technologies that ensure that only live selfies and no stock photos will be accepted when registering.

This developed after reports that SIM registrations have been made even with photos of animals and cartoon characters.

Under the SIM Card Registration Act, all PTEs are mandated to establish their respective registration platforms to onboard users who present valid identification cards.

Users were given 180 days or until April 26, 2023, to register their SIMs, or else face the risk of having these deactivated.

There were a total of 118.908 million SIMs registered as of August 31, 2023 — 8.352 million with DITO Telecommunity Corp., 56.258 million with Globe Telecom Inc., and 54.296 with Smart Communications Inc.

The implementing rules and regulations of the SIM Card Registration Act took effect on December 27, after the measure was signed into law by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. last October. —AOL/NB, GMA Integrated News