SORM was put into circulation – Newspaper Kommersant No. 58 (7503) dated 04/05/2023

The State Duma considered and adopted in the first reading a bill on increasing fines for telecom operators for violations during the installation of systems of operational-search activities (SORM). The document was adopted in its original version and provides for the spread of the mechanism of turnover fines, the punishment for legal entities can be 2-50 million rubles. and higher. But often the fault for non-installation of SORM lies not only with the telecom operator, experts emphasize, the reason may be long coordination with regulators.

On April 4, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill that imposes turnover fines on telecom operators for failing to install systems of operational-search activities. The bill was developed by the Ministry of Digital Development. He proposes the addition of Art. 13.46 of the Code of Administrative Offenses in two parts, establishing a fine calculated from the amount of proceeds from the “relevant type of licensed activity”, that is, in the case of SORM – from communication services to subscribers.

For the primary offense, the project is expected to charge 0.001-0.003% of the proceeds, if the violation is detected again – already 0.01-0.03%. In the current version of the Code of Administrative Offenses, follows from the explanatory note, the punishment is provided in the form of an administrative fine of 300-500 thousand rubles. and 2-6 million rubles. respectively. The authors of the project give an estimated estimate of the amount of new fines for legal entities in the regions and in Moscow and the Moscow Region: from 2 million rubles. in small towns and from 50 million rubles. in large ones. MTS, Rostelecom, Beeline and Tele2 declined to comment. The Ministry of Digital Development and MegaFon did not respond to inquiries.

From July 1, 2018, all operators must install SORM on their networks according to the Yarovaya Law. With their help, companies are required to store telephone conversations, text messages, images, videos and other electronic user data that may become available to law enforcement agencies by court order.

A bill with turnover fines for non-installation of SORM was submitted to the State Duma on February 16. It is expected to enter into force on January 1, 2024. This is one of three last year’s initiatives of the Ministry of Digital Transformation dedicated to tightening requirements for operators (see Kommersant dated June 8, 2022). The ministry also suggested raising the fee for obtaining a license for communication services from 7.5 thousand to 1 million rubles. In January, the State Duma adopted the corresponding amendments to the Tax Code in the first reading. In addition, the Ministry of Digital Development has developed amendments to the federal law “On Communications”, according to which new operators must coordinate the network construction scheme with the FSB. The Ministry of Economy in August negatively assessed the document.

At first, operators simply paid fines for not installing SORM, Alexey Boyko, an analyst at MForum agency, notes: “They did not hear the regulator, now the task is to ensure that 100% of operators still install SORM, which is why they are introducing turnover fines that companies cannot afford.”

The bill adopted in the first reading actually makes any violations in the SORM installation economically unprofitable, Boris Edidin, deputy chairman of the commission for legal support of the digital economy of the Moscow branch of the Russian Bar Association, believes. But it is important that the very procedures for coordinating plans for installing SORM and commissioning equipment do not become the subject of abuse, he notes.

The interlocutor of Kommersant in the telecom market explains that the installation of SORM on the equipment of operators “really is often hindered by control authorities, which can delay the check, do not sign the necessary acts for a long time and do not agree on the installation plan.” Meanwhile, he emphasizes, the delay of officials does not remove the risk of getting a fine.

Tatyana Isakova, Yulia Yurasova