The Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior has said he receives scam calls almost every day. Some callers use fake alerts claiming that parcels have arrived for him.
The chairman shared his experience on Thursday during a committee briefing. The meeting focused on the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) crackdown on the misuse of SIMs and telecom services.
Chairman Questions SIM Data Security
The chairman said he was particularly concerned about the information available to scam callers.
He questioned how callers could access details connected to a SIM registered in his name.
His concern came as officials briefed the committee on recent action against the misuse of telecom services.
The operations led to the recovery of around 29,000 SIMs. Authorities also arrested 171 people.
PTA Tightens SIM Registration Rules
The chairman acknowledged that SIM purchase and registration policies had weaknesses in the past.
He said telecom franchises previously activated SIMs for customers. Authorities later introduced stricter requirements for SIM registration.
The committee also received a briefing on biometric information.
Officials said they had received biometric data from around 600,000 people. Government departments collect biometric information for several services.
These include NADRA, airports, prisons and driving licence services.
Driving Licence System Goes Paperless
Islamabad’s DIG Traffic also briefed the committee about the driving licence system.
He said the system has now become paperless.
The move aims to make the licensing process more efficient and reduce the need for physical paperwork.
Billions of SIMs Blocked
The committee was also informed about large-scale action against telecom violations.
According to the briefing, authorities had blocked 18.2 billion SIMs.
Telecom companies also faced fines of Rs. 4.2 billion over violations.
The briefing highlighted the scale of Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to prevent the misuse of SIMs and telecom services.
The committee chairman’s experience also raised concerns about how scammers obtain personal information linked to registered SIMs. The issue may require stronger safeguards to protect telecom users from fraud and scam calls.
