Fines worth over RM20mil to telecommunication service providers (telcos) for not verifying the identity of new prepaid card new subscribers
Those who registered more than the limit given may be using the numbers for activities -Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has issued compounds worth over RM20mil to telecommunication service providers (telcos) for not verifying the identity of new prepaid card subscribers. The failure also saw over one million lines terminated by the telcos.
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MCMC chief regulatory officer Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin told The Star that the commission discovered cases of telco agents or dealers who misused consumers’ personal information to register fake prepaid accounts for sale to other customers.
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Victims, he said, would only realise the abuse via notification from telcos or law enforcement agencies who notified them of their “wrongdoings”.
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“The issue is worsened by the fact that we have foreigners whose identifications were also being used for bogus registrations.
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“It is easier for us to verify Malaysians because we can call and check with them if they have registered the numbers but with foreigners, it is very challenging.
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“As of last year, 430 compounds were issued by MCMC amounting to RM20.53mil for non-compliance with the guidelines based on the monitoring and audit conducts by MCMC through mystery shopper activities as well as public reports,” he said, adding that action was taken under Section 242 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
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Zulkarnain said the commission had also reduced the limit on the number of prepaid cards a user could register under their names – previously from 10 numbers to only five.
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“We have not ruled out the possibility that those who registered more than the limit given may be using the numbers for activities that are against the law,” he added.
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The commission, Zulkarnain said, was currently working hand in hand with the National Registration Department (NRD) to step up efforts to curb false prepaid registration that could lead to unlawful activities such as scams.
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A data verification exercise will be conducted twice a year to allow the commission to verify the validity of prepaid subscribers’ database and rectify unmatched data from the service providers.
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“Information received from service providers on its active prepaid cellular subscribers registered using MyKad will be shared with NRD for further verification.
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“This exercise is part of the commission’s efforts in ensuring compliance with the Guidelines on Registration of End-Users of Prepaid Public Cellular Service to strengthen the registration process to address false registration issues, security and data integrity issues, thus ensuring that the interest and rights of consumers are being protected,” he said.” he said.
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Zulkarnain said to date, the verification exercise, which began in 2017, had identified over 1.5 million numbers that had been registered with inaccurate information as per MyKad details.
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A total of 1,008,765 or 66% of the lines were terminated, 496,212 were updated with valid information and 12,058 are in the midst of being updating.
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“MCMC will share the verification results with the respective service providers and they will be given three months to take the necessary action to notify the users.
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“Service providers will issue a notice of three working days to the user to re-register their details, failing which, the number will be suspended.
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“Suspension shall be in effect for a period of 14 working days and if the user fails to co-operate, the service will be terminated,” he said.
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He said that upon termination, the remaining balance for the prepaid services would be forfeited and the service providers were not required to reissue the same numbers to the users for any new registrations in the future.
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He advised users who were involved in such activities to lodge a report at the telecommunication company, police and the Personal Data Protection Department (JPDP).
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This included postpaid users, Zulkarnain added.
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“So far, the guideline is for prepaid users. Normally for postpaid users, we will act and check based on complaints we receive.”
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The Malaysian government has made it mandatory for service providers to register prepaid mobile service users since 2006.
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The directive then was to curb the misuse of prepaid public cellular services and to address national security concerns related to terrorism and criminal behaviours.
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During the registration process, a user has to provide personal information such as his full name, permanent address and IC number.
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A foreigner, on the other hand, was required to submit details such as his full name, passport number, passport issuing country, as well as any other information deemed necessary by the commission.
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Separately, a telco executive said: “Prepaid registration is mandated. Dealers can have lapses and some occurrences can happen as there are millions of customers.”
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He said even though dealers might be registering the prepaid numbers, the telcos were held liable as dealers were not licensed.
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He added that lapses in registration could happen due to dealers who had high staff turnovers.
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