Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and all Cellular Mobile Operators of the country today commercially launched an automated procedure for Sale of Mobile SIMs.
According to the details, the framework for the new system, was jointly signed on 19th January 2012 and has been implemented as per agreed deadlines.
As per the new system, the subscribers’ documentation will be maintained electronically and Pre-Sale would be automated thereby linking it with already automated Post-Sale procedure called 789.
Highlights of new Automated System for Sale of Mobile SIMs
- Only original CNIC will be required to be presented at any registered Sale Point to buy a new SIM along-with Terms & Conditions document in the SIM jacket.
- The sale personnel shall send the CNIC of the customer to a short code to authenticate sale.
- Only SIMs sold through registered sales channels would be activated
- Post sale procedures for calling 789, responding to asked questions, agreement to the Terms & Conditions and declaration that the SIM will not be misused; remains the same.
- All authorized franchisees and retailers have been given a unique identification and only authorized sellers shall be allowed to sale the SIM.
- The sale has been automated to track which SIM has been sold by which particular sale channel (retailer) to ensure accountability.
PTA said that Since its commercial launch on 1st April 2012 about forty thousand verification requests have been rejected due to new security checks in the system.
PTA hopes that the new system shall not only help to eliminate the misuse of CNIC’s copy but also facilitate in keeping authentic record of SIMs sale thereby enabling track of sale channels in case of any misuse. Moreover, transition of existing Cellular Subscriber Agreement Form (CSAF) to e-CSAF will help to maintain an authentic subscribers’ database.
Chairman PTA Dr. Muhammad Yaseen, visited Call Centers of different mobile companies for inaugurating the commercial launch of the project and was briefed about the arrangements made in this regard.
The Chairman congratulated all stake-holders on reaching this milestone and hoped that the new system will further strengthen the processes of SIM verification. He also thanked the mobile companies for extending cooperation in successful implementation of existing SIM verification processes and hoped that the same spirit of mutual cooperation may prevail in future as well.
Great great!
Also pay attention towards SMS daily limits, and hourly/unlimited calls packages.
PTA should also implement easy fast MNP system like United Kingdom. where customers get their network changed within few hours instead of days.
i dun think it wud make any difference coz the customer can still get the sim registered on someone’s else name by only knowing his cnic details which ppl get by many ways….retailers wud snd the cnic no they would ask to get the no registered and the old same story misuse of sims,,,,,nothng wud change
There’s a difference, every transaction is saved and can be tracked back. So if someone sells a sim illegally and there happens a crime through that sim, the retailer gonna get caught for sure.
This fear will make them follow the procedures, that is, check original id cards.
+1
Agreed. At least they would be able to track the sale up to retailer level.
its very positive step for crime control but now PTA should also take some action on those mobile sim’s which are not registered activated & in use…PTA should implemented a rule for the limit of sim registration in per cnic of person…still people hve more then 5 sims on there name..and also unregistered network sims.
Good system in pakistan
agree with admin it will help tracking the crimes especially through mobile networks!
I think ve r going in servaliones bcoz dajjal system r work peoples data store in super computer in beLgium cashless society credit card debit card in cocacola used alcohol har musalman ko anjane mai alcohol drink karwa rahe hain nike air shoes par ALLAH ka naam pakistan mai 2 4 case hain polio kay phir bh drops par milions dollar kharch krahe hain why? Africa mai AIDS kese phela? Nazuk waqt hai….
Any idea who is providing this automated system? Is it a third party, a consortium, NADRA…? Playing devil’s advocate here, but considering that this whole process is meant for “security”, if the SMS is being sent to a short-code, meaning SMSC of an operator without being encrypted, then the process can be flawed due to man-in-the-middle attacks. For example, I send a CNIC, an intruder intercepts the message and mimics an SMSC to send back a confirmation/authentication. Or is this already being addressed?