DICT, telcos agree to SIM registration limit of 10 per user

JM Chavaria Executive Producer September 10, 2023 · 2 min read

Listen to article

Pasig Mega Market gets Starlink internet for cashless payments EU-PH Digital Initiative aims to boost connectivity and cybersecurity Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders begin on June 25 LTO raises cybersecurity concerns over expiring LTMS contract Instagram introduces Multiple Captions for Carousel Posts

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in its recent forum says that it plans to put a SIM registration limit with a maximum of 10 per user.

The aim is to resolve the ‘alarming’ cases of text scams, which have remained rampant despite the mandatory SIM registration.

Sim Cards Hero (publicdomainpictures) (yuga Fi)

DICT Undersecretary Alexander Ramos claims that they have detected over 600 registered under one name. He says that it’s ‘abnormal’ for a prepaid user to register over 10 SIMs, unless they are using them for malicious activities.

DICT initially proposed a limit of five SIMs, but telco providers agreed to a SIM registration limit of 10. Ramos hopes to implement this change within a few months, as the agency works to expedite data exchange between agencies.

ALSO READ: Fake ID with a picture of a monkey passes SIM registration –NBI

The agency says that they are currently working with the telco providers and related government agencies: including its sub-agency, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) to strengthen the SIM Registration Act’s Implementing Rules and Regulations.

“We don’t need to amend [the SIM registration law], because the safeguards are there,” said Ramos.

As of July 30—the end of SIM registration period—NTC data showed a total of 113.9 million registered SIMs. That’s more than half out of total 168 million subscribers nationwide recorded in 2022.

React to this article:

cybercrime prevention Department of Information and Communications Technology dict national privacy commission National Telecommunications Commission ntc prepaid SIM sim registration act SIM registration limit telcos text scams

JM Chavaria

Executive Producer

JM has always had an affinity for all things tech and gaming, even before joining YugaTech. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (Manila). Since then, JM has been covering the tech industry for several years now through engaging news, reviews, and content creation. Specializing in video editing, writing, and videography, he pays close attention to visuals, spec sheet, and the rule of thirds. JM is also mainly a Nintendo guy, often bringing his modded 3DS XL with him wherever he goes whenever he can.

1,937 Articles

View all posts by JM Chavaria →

7 Comments

rui · 3 years ago

Is that 10 SIM limit total across all carriers or 10 SIMs per carrier? How is SIM de-registration going to be handled?

Alan Piquero · 3 years ago

Unexpected anomaly or just a dumb moves taken without prejudice thinking? Such a waste of time effort and users who are just a simple and honest users of telecommunications are the ones affected. Remedy must be implemented and that is to have a stiff monitoring and penalty for those who continuously defied the inefficiency of the Government who are always behind of such illegal activity. Shame on the Government personnel who are not working against the wicked but are always trying to correct repair their characters of being inefficient incompetent and inutile.

Arran · 3 years ago

My opinions
1.Telecommunication providers must make it clear to users how many SIM cards are registered under their name so that users can report, disable, or deactivate any suspected SIM card numbers being used illegally at any time.

2.There is no need to limit the number of SIM cards individuals can register, but there must be a restriction on the maximum number of SIM cards that registered users can use simultaneously. SIM cards exceeding the specified limit should only retain network connectivity, while their ability to make or receive calls (voice) and send or receive text messages should be restricted.

3.Since there is no limit on the registration of SIM cards, operators can allow users to preserve numbers they may wish to continue using in the future through recharges. Users should be allowed to freely choose to replace a reserved number with an active one for at least six months or longer. Once the reserved number is activated, the replaced active number should have its call and text messaging functions deactivated.

donald duck · 3 years ago

This policy is a complete joke from the start it was a guaranteed failure when grace Poe announced it still is a failure and will always be a failure

My guess people are starting to wake up to reality that this is a failure and now government is scrambling

I think it wasnt so long ago they was talking about charging people a hefty fee for having 4 or more sims

This sham has nothing to do with stopping scams as it’s impossible to stop especially with pointless sim card registration that’s super easy to bypass this policy is more about how much money they can make plus keeping track on everything and everyone

Thankfully I’m smart enough and tech savvy enough to bypass this sham

Kardu · 3 years ago

Andaming alam ng DICT. Ang sabi nila sim registration will solve the text scams, pero wala nmang nangyari ganun pa rin. Parang maslalo pang nacompromise dhil ang mga information ng mga nagregister ay nasa knila at possible na naibenta na rin…

Tutko Moyinmo · 3 years ago

“He says that it’s ‘abnormal’ for a prepaid user to register over 10 SIMs, unless they are using them for malicious activities.”
This is where you’ll see how dumb these people are.
One person could easily need more than 10 SIM registrations for legitimate purposes.
Four vehicles in my household use ODB2 GPS each requiring a SIM card Ive three minor children whose SIM cards are registered under my name. Ive two personal SIM cards, Smart and Globe, that I use on a daily basis. Plus another four, Smart and Globe, for two businesses. Plus another two, for prepaid WiFi, ine as backup internet at home and another at my daughter’s condo (dorm).
Undersecretary Alexander Ramos, you are clueless about your job. Kaya kayo palpak di niyo alam ginagawa niyo!