About 55,000 telecom SIM subscriptions obtained fraudulently in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been identified with the help of the Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition technology (called ASTR) as part of the Sanchar Saathi initiative, according to T. Varaprasad, Deputy Director General, Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Union Minister of Communications, Railways and Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnam launched the Sanchar Saathi portal (www.sancharsaathi.gov.in) of the DoT in New Delhi on May 16 (Tuesday).
Addressing the reporters in Vijayawada, Mr. Varaprasad said that Sanchar Saathi helps citizens check mobile connections registered on their names, report fraudulent or unrequired connections, block stolen or lost mobile phones using IMEI, and verify the authenticity of a mobile before purchase.
Under the Centralised Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) initiative, the stolen or lost mobile phones would be blocked by the DoT, but the police would still be able to trace them, he said.
“One of the features of Sanchar Saathi is the ASTR, which is aimed at detecting the SIM subscriptions obtained using forged documents,” Mr. Varaprasad said.
“In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, about 55,000 SIM subscriptions obtained by using fake documents through 14,000 points of sale have so far been identified, and 72 points of sale have been blacklisted. The findings have been sent to the respective network providers for verification. Once the findings are verified, police complaints will be filed against those responsible, and they will be blacklisted,” Mr. Varaprasad added.
Mr. Ashwini Vaishnam, who addressed the virtual press conference, said 87 crore SIM subscriptions were analysed across the country so far using ASTR technology. About 40 lakh suspected subscriptions had been identified, and 36.61 lakh subscriptions were already disconnected.
“The ASTR technology is highly efficient and has detected cases of persons having more than 5,000 SIM subscriptions in their name. Across the country, 40,123 points of sale have been blacklisted and 150 FIRs registered,” he added.
