The Union Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has revealed that a staggering 4,05,307 persons in the border state of West Bengal were found to have more than nine SIM cards each. Over the last 5 years, around 13 lakh 59 thousand 934 such dubious connections have been disabled by the government.
MoS Rural Development and Communications Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani has informed the above in the Rajya Sabha today responding to a starred question by BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya.
The issue of dubious SIM cards and possible usage of false identity documents is expected to cause concern as Bengal has a long border with Bangladesh and illegal immigration has been a serious issue through the porous borders.
The MoS also clarified that as of now there is no proposal to limit the issuance of SIM cards to six from nine per person in any state.
In June 2024, the union government had brought the new Telecom Act, limiting the number of SIM cards per person to 9.
