The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) on Wednesday warned the public against buying pre-registered SIM cards.

In an interview with dzBB, DICT Undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo said: “Just now there people who are taking advantage of the registration who are selling pre-registered SIM cards.”

“We just want to warn the public that this is a criminal offense. And your penalty is not just a fine. You can also be imprisoned for that,” she added.

Lamentillo said they added a selfie verification system to prevent SIM subscribers from submitting false information, false IDs and from submitting somebody else’s ID.

Under the implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the SIM Registration Act, using false information in registering a SIM could lead to imprisonment for up to six years or a fine of up to P300,000, or both.

The first 15 days will be test period for the registration portals of telecommunication firms, she said.

“We are expected register about 150 to 180 million SIM cards in a span of six months. So for during these 15 days, we are just asking the public to be more patient. But we promise you that it will be better,” Lamentillo said.

Lamentillo said that as of Tuesday, over one million SIM card subscribers registered in their telecommunications company's portal.

“So I think, it’s good. We are on target. During the 15-day period, our capacity to register SIM users will increase. Our target is 1 million a day in 180 days.” she said.

The SIM Registration Act requires all users to register their SIMs with their respective telco.

Under the law, SIM users will be given 180 days to register, from December 27 to April 26.

Failure to register will lead to the deactivation of the users' SIM. Jaspearl Tan/DMS