THE authorities and the three telcos here are clamping down on vendors who sell prepaid phone cards pre-registered with the particulars of someone the buyer doesn't know.
A special report in The New Paper on Sunday (TNPS) earlier this month exposed the availability of such SIM cards.
The TNPS report revealed that vendors in Bedok, Geylang, Lucky Plaza and even along Orchard Road were illegally selling such pre-registered cards - and at a higher price.
A joint statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) said that as part of an ongoing review process, they are looking at enhancing the registration system to deter dealers from doing this.
Registration of buyers of prepaid phone cards was introduced in November 2005 to stop terrorists from using them anonymously.
The statement said the authorities will be working with the telcos to ensure that those caught breaching the registration rules will be banned from selling prepaid SIM cards.
'IDA and MHA view all violations of prepaid card registrations seriously. Following the implementation of the mandatory registration of prepaid cards in 2005, we have continued to work closely with the mobile operators to constantly tighten the registration regime and to take action against errant dealers.'
The TNPS report prompted all three of the mobile operators to conduct random checks on their authorised retailers.
But none of their authorised dealers were found to have breached the rules.
This meant that the culprits may not be authorised vendors of the SIM cards, and may have obtained them illegally.
All three companies said they would not 'hesitate to terminate their relationships with their dealers' should they be found to have broken the rules and fraudulently registered customers.
But who is involved and how do they do it? That wasn't clear.
A SingTel spokesman would only say: 'Based on the report in the news article, we have managed to locate two parties involved and have confirmed that they are not our authorised retailers. We have also checked and confirmed that our authorised distributors did not supply any prepaid cards to them.
'We view any misconduct very seriously and some measures that we impose on errant retailers include suspension.'
M1 has stepped up random checks on its vendors, in the hope of deterring them from abusing the system, while StarHub said it has emphasised to its dealers the importance of complying with the registration requirement.
Appeal to consumers
The IDA-MHA statement also called for consumers to contribute to greater national security by buying prepaid SIM cards only from authorised dealers who carry out proper registration procedures.
One consumer, Mr Pang Min Seng, 37, reacted to news of the tighter measures with relief. 'It will be safer for consumers like me, because my details are safe, and will not be misused by crooks,' said Mr Pang, who is self-employed.
This article was first published in The New Paper on November 29, 2008.
