Roskomnadzor will check 85% of information about foreign subscribers in 2025

Using the SIM card control system, the Roskomnadzor structure will check 85% of information about foreign subscribers in 2025. Telecom operators clarify that they transfer data about all subscribers to the system, and without confirmation, customers are disconnected from communication. Experts note that checking the details of SIM cards issued to foreigners is difficult due to the lack of information about them in Russian databases, which is actively used by scammers.

In 2025, the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRFC, subordinate to Roskomnadzor) will check information about 85% of subscribers – foreign citizens, as follows from the updated passport of the departmental digital transformation program of Roskomnadzor (available to Kommersant).

In the summer of 2023, telecom operators began transmitting subscriber data to the SIM card status monitoring system (KSIM). In total, it is planned to allocate 69.8 million rubles for the development of KSIM in 2024–2026, it follows from the document. The share of verified information about foreign subscribers will become one of the indicators by which the development of GRFC information systems is assessed. Roskomnadzor and the Ministry of Digital Development did not respond to Kommersant’s requests.

In 2023, telecom operators transmitted to KSIM information about 100% of the subscriber base – 351 million numbers, of which 43 million were with violations, according to the GRCHTS report for last year (see Kommersant on February 16). From September to December 2023, operators stopped providing services to more than 600 thousand numbers with unknown owners. The center does not disclose how many SIM cards are issued to foreigners.

The report explains how the system works: it checks the data received from operators with government information systems and sends the verification results to Roskomnadzor.

If the data does not match, the operator receives a notification, and then asks the client to come to the communication salon and re-present his ID, Tele2 explains. The company adds that data about foreign subscribers is transferred on the same basis as others.

MegaFon emphasized to Kommersant that, in accordance with the Law “On Communications,” the operator cannot provide communication services to subscribers with unconfirmed personal data. VimpelCom says that information about subscribers, including foreign citizens, is provided to the CCIM “in a protected and hashed form.” “We identify the client in person in the office upon presentation of an identification document, and also conduct checks based on the risk model and, if necessary, invite clients to the office for re-identification,” the company explained. MTS only stated that they check information about all subscribers, regardless of citizenship, “in the prescribed manner.”

The companies do not comment on possible changes in data checks of foreign subscribers due to the terrorist attack on March 22. Alexey Boyko, an analyst at the specialized Telegram channel abloud62, says that if a foreigner comes to the Russian Federation “from time to time” and does not confirm the data, the SIM card can be disabled even now, even if the account is topped up properly. “It is more difficult for a foreigner to participate in checking his data; he is unlikely to be present at the State Services or have a UKEP (enhanced qualified electronic signature.— “Kommersant”), so to confirm the relevance of the data, the only option left is to personally visit the operator’s salon, which is not always convenient,” the expert emphasizes.

“The issue of identifying foreign passports is connected not only with countering terrorists. Most fraudulent call centers and SIM boxes (equipment that is used to store and operate a large number of SIM cards.— “Kommersant”) is charged specifically with cards issued to foreigners,” notes Alexey Slukin, editor of the specialized Telegram channel “Telekommunalka”. According to him, SIM cards issued to foreigners are “a gray area that is difficult to identify,” since there are no resources for verification other than a physical passport.

Alexey Zhabin