KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission is conducting a public enquiry on new prepaid SIM card registration guidelines.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching announced the key proposal to limit Malaysian citizens to owning just two numbers per telecommunications provider.
She added that the study includes a proposal to limit foreign nationals to just two prepaid numbers in total across all telco providers.
The public consultation is expected to conclude by the end of November.
The MCMC aims to enforce the new guidelines in the first quarter of next year.
Teo stated that tightening these guidelines should reduce the misuse of prepaid SIM cards.
She explained these cards are often used to register social media accounts for fraud, spreading false information, or making threats.
She provided this information during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat.
Under the existing 2017 guidelines, an individual can register up to five prepaid numbers with each telco company.
This means a person could have five numbers from Maxis, five from Celcom, five from Digi, five from U Mobile and five from YTL.
She noted this amounts to a rather large number of SIM cards for a single individual.
Teo was responding to a supplementary question from Dr Mohammed Taufiq bin Johari regarding the government’s proposal to draft a policy for the ethical use of AI and measures to strengthen digital forensic capabilities under the MCMC. – Bernama
