DoT has a new ‘SMS rule’ for Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has a new rule for SMSs. The department has asked telecom service providers Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea to stop the SMS facility (both incoming and outgoing) on numbers requesting subscriber identity module (SIM) swap or upgrade. As per the order, the SMS service shall be barred for 24 hours on new SIM cards after activation. DoT has given telecom operators 15 days to implement the new guidelines. The new measures aim to address the risk of SIM swap frauds, one of the most-common cybercrime in the country.
What are the DoT guidelines
In 2016 and 2018, DoT had issued detailed procedures and steps for seeking explicit consent of the customers for issuance of new SIM cards in cases of upgradation. Now it has further outlined detailed measures to be implemented when handling a SIM upgrade, reissue, swap request, including multiple layers of confirmation once the customer raises the request. Under these DoT guidelines, once a telecom company receives a request for a new SIM on an existing number, it is required to send a message conveying the receipt of such a request.

It also needs to check the receipt of the new SIM card through an IVRS call to the subscriber on the current SIM card, to authenticate the request, and the receipt of the new SIM. If at any point, the customer does not affirm the request, the process of SIM upgrade needs to be terminated immediately.
What is SIM swap fraud
SIM swap fraud occurs when fraudsters obtain confidential information about a customer through fake calls or phishing. They then use the same information to approach the telecom service provider for a new SIM card. Once the SIM card is issued, the old SIM in possession of the customer gets deactivated and all new communication to the number is received by the fraudster.

This allows the scammer to access all information like bank and credit/debit card one-time passwords (OTPs) allowing them to steal money from the victim’s account. This may also happen in case of stolen phones or when unsuspecting customers click on unknown links. These may allow the fraudster to duplicate the SIM remotely and gain access to bank OTPs.