THE regional office of the National Telecommunications Commission has called on the people to register their subscriber identity module (SIM) cards to avoid getting deactivated.
Nelson Cañete, regional director of the agency, said the people should follow the new law as registration started on Tuesday and will last for six months.
In the case of new SIM cards, Cañete, these can only be used upon registration.
The owner of the SIM card needs to provide a photograph of his or her government-issued identification card and a photograph of himself or herself holding the identification card so that the registration will be successful, he added.
“Naa ta Data Privacy Act, so we assure (everyone) that because there is penalty and imprisonment (if the law is violated),” he said, adding that cellular phones of children must be registered under the names of their parents or guardians.
A lost mobile phone or the if the owner dies, the service provider will deactivate the SIM card as those that will not be registered after the period will be deactivated. A deactivated SIM card can only be reactivated after the registration provided the reactivation takes place five day safer its deactivation.
The official cautioned that those who will use dubious pieces of information in registering their devices may get jailed for two years or P300,000 in fine or both.
Those who sell registered SIM cards, or transfer them to others without complying with the law will also be imprisoned between six months and six years and will pay the fine of between P100,000 and P300,000.
Those who will use these devices for misinformation with the intention to defraud or cause harm may face up to six years in prison or a fine of P200,000 or both.
Those who will sell stolen cards will get two years of jail time or a fine of up to P300,000 or both.
