ISLAMABAD (APP): Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Friday informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication that it had blocked around 732,000 illegal Subscriber Identity/Identification Modules (SIMs) during 2021 till date.
However, the committee meeting that was chaired by Ali Khan Jadoon, expressed dissatisfaction over the action taken against the illegal use of the SIM cards, directing the PTA and NADRA chairmen to appear before the body with a comprehensive plan of action in that regard. The committee observed that the illegal SIMs were a threat to the county’s security. The chairman said “We want to end the issue of illegal SIMs as soon as possible but the departments concerned are not cooperating with us as these are threatening the national security.”
PTA representatives informed the committee that the authority had introduced stringent measures to check the illegal SIMs and problems had been considerably reduced. He said the PTA had also taken punitive action against mobile operators whose sales centers or franchises were found involved in the issuance of SIMs without fulfilling mandatory requirements and verification. “We have directed the mobile operators not to issue SIMs without biometric verification”.
Member National Assembly Sher Ali Arbab was critical towards the PTA for not solving the issue of the illegal SIMs and said, “We are hearing the same briefing from the last many months as no concrete steps have been taken by the authority to settle the issue threatening to national security”. He was of the view that the chairman of the committee must take action against those officials who were summoned, but failed to appear and brief the body. The lawmakers were of the view that all the fraudulent activities were being carried out through these illegal SIMs.
Member Naz Baloch suggested establishing special cyber units in the police stations for the registration of complaints. She also recommended empowerment of Cybercrime Department by employing more staff as the existing strength was insufficient to handle the growing cases of cyber-crimes. Member National Assembly Ali Gohar Khan suggested getting a comprehensive briefing on cyber-crime related legislation. The chairman asked the PTA officials to share national policy on cyber-crime with the members of the committee in next meeting.
