The government has made police verification of SIM card dealers mandatory and discontinued the provision of bulk connections to curb fraudulent activities, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.

The minister said that the government has disconnected 52 lakh mobile connections. While 67,000 dealers have been blacklisted, 300 FIRs have been filed against SIM card dealers since May 2023.

The minister said WhatsApp on its own blocked around 66,000 accounts that were involved in fraudulent activities.

"Now we have made police verification of SIM dealers mandatory to curb frauds. Penalty of Rs 10 lakh will be imposed on dealers found violating norms," Vaishnaw said.

He said that there are 10 lakh SIM dealers and they will be given sufficient time for police verification.

The minister said that the Department of Telecommunications has also discontinued the provision of bulk connections and instead a new concept of business connection will be introduced.

"Besides, KYC of businesses, KYC of person taking handover of SIM will also be done," Vaishnaw said.

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