Russians will be able to set a ban on buying SIM cards without their presence
In the Russian Federation, it will be possible to impose a ban on the conclusion on their behalf of contracts with Russian cellular operators without their personal presence. This follows from the draft amendments, including to the law "On Communications", prepared by the Ministry of Communications. Izvestia has familiarized itself with it. Changes, along with adjustments to other legislative acts, the Ministry is now coordinating with other agencies, follows from the accompanying materials to the document.
According to the idea of the developers of the document, the self-imposed ban on the conclusion of contracts with operators can be established through the portal "Gosusgosluzhby", as well as in the MFC. The ban can only be lifted by a personal visit to this institution, the bill states.
Since January 1, 2025, the rules for the purchase of SIM cards for foreigners have become stricter, recalled in the Mincifra.
"Now regulated the number of contracts issued for one person, payment for communication services in cash is possible only with confirmation of identity. In the near future on "Gosuslugi" will be launched service to inform subscribers about all contracts and numbers that are registered on them. Thanks to this, it will be practically impossible to sign a communication contract for another person and act on his behalf," the press service of the Ministry said.
The trend towards digitalization of society, business and the state leads to the fact that fraudsters who have access to a person's phone number have more and more opportunities to commit offenses, believes Sergei Polovnikov, head of the Content-Review project. According to him, the bill is relevant in light of the recently introduced limit on the connection of one Russian not more than 20 numbers at a time.
If someone bought a SIM card using a forged power of attorney, which contains the user's passport data from leaked databases, and chose the limit, the law-abiding subscriber may lose the opportunity to buy a new SIM card, he warned.
It is advisable to extend this provision to any actions with SIM-cards, committed without the presence and knowledge of the subscriber, said Sergei Polovnikov. The practice of using fake powers of attorney leads to the fact that the attackers get in the showroom SIM-card unsuspecting user, and together with it - access to his accounts in social networks and messengers, said the expert.
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