The authorities want to limit operations for withdrawing funds through SIM cards

Authorities are developing ways to limit withdrawals of funds through SIM cards. Now subscribers have the opportunity to withdraw funds from the account linked to the SIM card, even in the event of seizure of bank accounts. If the amendments that Rosfinmonitoring is discussing with the Ministry of Digital Development are adopted, money in accounts will be blocked as part of a pre-investigation check or if unreliable information about the subscriber is identified, and operators may stop providing communication services to him.

The Ministry of Digital Development has developed a bill according to which telecom operators may be required to prohibit subscribers from transferring money from an account linked to a SIM card, follows from the response of the head of Rosfinmonitoring Yuri Chikhanchin dated April 5 to the deputy chairman of the council for the development of the digital economy under the Federation Council Artem Sheikin (Kommersant has it) ). We are talking about amendments to Federal Law No. 126 “On Communications”. The letter from Rosfinmonitoring says that the agency is also discussing with the Ministry of Digital Development the procedure for refusing to transfer money to a client “if the contract for the provision of communication services contains inaccurate information about the subscriber.”

When committing fraudulent actions, attackers transfer stolen funds “to subscriber phone numbers of various mobile operators that are used by scammers,” Artem Sheikin explained to Kommersant.

In January, the senator told Kommersant that he was preparing to submit to the State Duma a bill equating SIM cards to means of payment in order to qualify the actions of persons associated with the circulation of illegal SIM cards under Art. 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – “Illegal circulation of means of payment” (see “Kommersant” dated January 25).

The Ministry of Digital Development did not respond to Kommersant’s request. Rosfinmonitoring explained that they supported the ministry’s bill. They added that the document stipulates, among other things, the possibility of suspending the provision of communication services. The operator can make such a decision if “the amount of funds in the subscriber’s personal account after the arrest or suspension of operations is insufficient to provide communication services.”

The tightening of legislation in the field of communications and the work of operators is associated with an increase in telephone fraud (fraud) and the theft of citizens’ funds. According to the Central Bank report, in 2023, the volume of funds stolen from citizens by fraudsters amounted to 15.8 billion rubles, and the number of illegal transactions increased by 33%. Regulators largely blame the growth of fraud on telecom operators, including calling on them to limit the sale of SIM cards, etc. (see “Kommersant” dated March 22).

Operator accounts do not fall under the regulation of the Central Bank, while companies give subscribers the right to make transfers not only within their ecosystem, but also to withdraw funds in general, including cashing them out, explains Kommersant’s interlocutor familiar with the development of the bill. Fraudsters began to use this to withdraw funds.

The current initiative “rather leads telecom operators to refuse such services to subscribers, since they are against being regulated by the Central Bank on an equal basis with banks,” says Kommersant’s interlocutor.

“The bill involves blocking a specific amount in the advance payment, in respect of which a resolution is issued as part of the pre-investigation check, the blocking is valid for ten days,” Tele2 clarifies. A Kommersant source on the market says that the blocking will take place “by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

Tele2 emphasizes that operators will have the right, and not the obligation, to suspend the provision of communication services. A market source adds that the bill is aimed “to clarify the grounds for suspension by an operator of communication services” in the event that a certain amount is seized or operations on an account are suspended. VimpelCom, MegaFon and MTS declined to comment.

In 2024, authorities are planning other measures to strengthen the fight against telephone fraud. Thus, the Ministry of Digital Development, Roskomnadzor and market participants are preparing amendments to the Law “On Communications”, which should tighten the process of selling SIM cards in Russia. In particular, it is planned to establish a new period for identifying subscribers; currently the process takes up to 48 days, while regulations may reduce it to one day.

Alexey Zhabin