Taking an important decision to prevent illegal use of mobile SIMs, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has prepared a plan regarding the closure of mobile SIMs, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.

According to PTA, mobile SIMs will be blocked in three phases.

In the first phase, SIMs registered on fake and cancelled identity cards will be blocked while in the second phase SIMs registered on expired identity cards will be closed and in the third phase SIMs registered in the names of deceased persons will be blocked, the PTA said.

A series of awareness messages have been started by the PTA. Further, PTA will also advertise in newspapers to make consumers aware.

The messages urged users to get National Identity Cards issued by NADRA to ensure the functionality of SIMs.

The process of blocking Sims in phases will start from August 16 and in this regard PTA has also obtained customer data from NADRA.

Reactivation of blocked SIMs will be done through biometric authentication at the centers of respective mobile operators.

Illegal use of mobile SIMs is not acceptable under any circumstances, PTA said.

Reporter: Waqar Azeem