Local News: SP Resolves Sale of SIM Cards Must be Registered (Part II)
Telecommunications companies upon securing or renewing of their business permits shall submit a copy of their verified list of their current authorized dealers or agents in Bacolod City and submit an updated copy every three months to the permits and licensing division.
SIM card dealers or agents, upon renewal or application of their business permits shall also secure a certification from the telecommunications companies where he/she acquires the SIM cards to be sold. The certification shall indicate vital information of the dealer such as the name of the dealer, location of business, dealer number, date when dealership was approved and shall state that he/she is their authorized dealer. Existing pre-paid subscriber of any cellular network company in the Philippines is hereby required to register his or her active pre-paid SIM cards within three months from the date of effectivity of this ordinance.
Any subscriber, who fails to register his or her existing pre-paid SIM card to the respective telecommunications companies with the prescribed period stated in this ordinance, shall have his or her current account immediately be deactivated or otherwise rendered ineffective by the concerned telecommunications companies. Reactivation shall be availed only after the subscriber have registered his/her SIM card to the respective telecommunications companies.
After the period of registration as prescribed in this ordinance, telecommunications companies are directed to keep an updated data base listing or record of all their subscribers containing the respective data gathered from users or purchasers of their prepaid SIM cards and submit the same to the Permits and Licensing Division of Bacolod and furnish a copy also to the NTC Regional Office every three months.
All interested parties shall, before engaging in the trade of SIM card, shall record the name of the SIM card Serial Number, Name and complete address of the subscriber, the mobile number (as indicated in the card), the Proof of Identification used and the date when the SIM card was purchased. If a person bought more than one SIM Card, Telecommunications Companies, dealers, retailers and agents should write the required necessary information of the SIM Cards under the name of the person who purchased it.
Dealers, retailers and agents shall submit the names of the SIM Card Holders to the respective telecommunications companies quarterly for their record-keeping purposes. Mobile companies shall maintain a record of all these names and other information in order to have a speedy tracking and pursuit of criminals and other lawless elements.
The telecommunications companies are hereby required to have a registration list for their own record-keeping and they will also distribute this to their SIM card dealers. The registration list shall follow the template below in taking down the information from the SIM card subscribers.
Information in SIM Card Registration shall be treated as absolutely confidential, unless otherwise specified by the subscriber. It shall not be inquired or looked into, except upon probable cause to be determined by the court after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he or she may produce or upon the request of an investigator or Police Officer in the conduct of his investigation duly signified by his supervisor. The confidentiality clause in the SIM card registration in Section 8 shall start to apply at the point of sale. Any person or group of persons who deliberately acquire, own, use or conceal any SIM Card cloning equipment or software as defined in section 4 of this ordinance, shall be penalized by this ordinance.
Any violation of the above provisions of this ordinance shall be punished with a fine ranging from one thousand pesos (Php 1, 000.00) to five thousand pesos (Php 5, 000.00) or an imprisonment, minimum of thirty (30) days and maximum of six (6) months depending on the determination of the court on the gravity of the offense.
Co-authors of this ordinance are Councilors Em Ang, Al Victor Espino, Jose Carlos Lopez and Mona Dia Jardin.*
