The State Duma will continue the fight against the illegal sale of SIM cards

On March 6, the State Duma adopted amendments to the Law on Communication in the first reading. These amendments limit the sale of SIM cards in non-stationary trading facilities. The draft law was presented by its co-author, member of the Federation Council Lyudmila Bokova, as reported by Vedomosti.

Deputies proposed similar measures to the Code on Administrative Offenses in 2017, but then the document passed only the first reading. The explanatory note then stated that unauthorized trade takes place in crowded places - at train stations and in crossings between metro stations.

A separate draft law on non-stationary trade is needed in order to eliminate comments on the document and to continue work on amendments to the Administrative Code, as reported by Bokova.
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The last two years, various departments have proposed to introduce more stringent requirements for the sale of SIM cards. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in particular, stated that the current legislation is not enough. Perhaps the new amendments will force the police to deal with such trade. According to the authors of the bill, the police will be able to deal with violations simply by patrolling the territory. True, experts do not understand that the police had previously prevented the use of laws that generally regulate trade.

SIM vendors who trade on the street are not operator dealers, as they do not provide the subscriber with the necessary information about the subscriber. Accordingly, the laws are not respected.

Amendments to the Administrative Code propose to introduce administrative responsibility not only for the distribution of SIM cards and the conclusion of contracts in non-stationary trade objects, but also for the late provision of information about subscribers to the operator. Thus, the amendments say about the arrest of illegal sellers of SIM cards - foreigners. The term of arrest is 15 days, after which it is proposed to expel the guilty from the country.

Roskomnadzor should deal with cases of administrative offenses, and police officers will draw up reports. The expulsion of foreigners from the country, according to the authors of the bill, can serve as a preventive effect from the expulsion of foreigners so that others comply with applicable laws.

Currently, about 30% of SIM cards in Russia are sold illegally, despite all attempts to combat such trade. These 30% include not only the sale of SIM cards from the hands, but also the sale through legal entities without registering passport data. The share of "gray" numbers is reduced due to the fact that operators are struggling with this trend, trying to verify the numbers. Nevertheless, the reduction is insignificant - now we can say no more than about 1-1.5% per year.

According to Telecom Daily, in 2018, 95 million SIM cards were sold in Russia.

According to telecom operators, including VimpelCom and Tele2, they are actively fighting against violations in the turnover of SIM cards. So, Tele2 employees regularly check sales points, imposing fines on unscrupulous dealers. VimpelCom strengthens control over the sale of SIM cards by doubling the retail network. Thanks to him, managed to stimulate legal sales.

Well, at the Ministry of Communications at this time, they are proposing to introduce Russian cryptographic protection systems, which are planned to be introduced in new SIM cards. The corresponding draft order was published in September 2018. The Office proposed to oblige telecom operators to switch to new SIM cards. It was reported that operators should identify subscribers using certified Federal Security Service (FSB) encryption.

One of the problems that arise during a possible transition is that about 260 million SIM cards are served in Russia. When introducing a new standard, it will take 5 billion rubles to implement the changes. The problem is not only in the cards themselves, but also in the equipment of the providers who will work with the new SIM cards.

At the same time, the Ministry of Communications stated that SIM cards of the new sample will be reliable if they have to be changed every 15 months. “The purpose of the proposed regulation is to reduce the risk of violation of the integrity, operational stability and security of the unified telecommunication network of the Russian Federation,” the draft says.