Over 100 million mobile SIMs registered with biometric details, says Minister Tarana

Just over 100 million mobile phone SIMs have been re-registered with biometric details of subscribers, says State Minister for Telecom Tarana Halim.

Speaking at a media briefing on Sunday, she said that subscribers of 100.9 million SIMs had so far re-registered, accounting for over 76 percent of active mobile phone connections.

The minister advised subscribers to call at 16103 (the NID registration wing) for clarification on issues over registering SIMs, including fingerprint mismatch.
 
She added that the call centre service would be available until 3pm Tuesday (May 31).

According to figures from the telecom regulator, the number of active mobile phone connections by the end of April stood at 131.94 million.

SIM cards are not being sold without buyers’ fingerprints any more.

The re-registration process, which began on Dec 16 last year, is aimed at controlling crimes committed by using mobile phone connections under false identity.

The government initially set Apr 30 as the deadline to re-register active SIMs, which was later extended till the end of this month.

“The deadline was extended in the public interest, and will not be repeated. Unregistered SIMs will be deactivated after May 31 and will not be activated before two months have elapsed,” Tarana told the media briefing at her office.

The minister said the process to inform subscribers about the numbers of SIMs registered under their names would start in late June or early July.

An individual will also be able to cancel his registration for a connection at that time, she added.

On the issue of losses in revenue through a deactivating of unregistered SIMs, the minister said that they could be made up.

“Our data use is increasing, mobile number portability or MNP will be introduced and the 4G spectrum auction will be held—the losses can be made up through these.