MANILA — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Thursday said individuals who entered false details during SIM registration would face penalties, including imprisonment.

NTC Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan made the announcement after reports that the SIM enrollment system accepted a photo of a monkey during registration despite their screening process.

• DICT says tracing organized syndicates behind text scammers
• Gov't warns vs unscrupulous sale of registered SIMs

Salvahan said they already ordered telco firms to submit data on similar incidents and find out fraudulent or fictitious registration, just as they formed a technical working group to strengthen the law's implementing rules and regulations.

Individuals who will enter false registration details may face imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years or a fine ranging from P100,000 to P300,000.

"Yung batas natin nagtakda ng numerous IDs, yung 16 na ID at saka yung catch-all provision. Yun ay para sa mga hindi tech-savvy o mga kababayan natin na walang ID ay makarehistro sa mga well-meaning subscribers," Salvahan said in a televised briefing.

"Under sa batas natin, if you provide false or fictitious information or gumamit ng fictitious identity or fraudulent ID para i-register ang SIM niyo, puwede kayo makulong," he said.

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He also warned people against selling pre-registered SIMs, since unauthorized transfer of SIMs to another individual merits imprisonment between 6 months and 6 years or a fine ranging from P100,000 to P300,000.

"May penalty sa batas ang pagbebenta o paglilipat ng isang rehistradong SIM without complying with the requirements of registration. Dapat ilipat ang registration," he added.

To address these concerns, there would be an updating of the implementing rules and regulations, he said, as well as the possibility of amending the law.

Authorities were also looking at the possibility of limiting the number of SIMs one can register, since there were no prohibitions under the SIM Registration Law.

• Registration of multiple SIMs may be OK under law: DICT

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) over the weekend said they are already tracing organized syndicates using pre-registered SIMs to scam people, amid questions how this schemes continue despite the SIM Registration Law.

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, an attached agency of the DICT, for its part already urged the public to report text scams so authorities could identify the source of the message.

Video from PTV​