MOSCOW, January 25 The idea of legislatively equating SIM cards to means of payment was not discussed in the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, but the first deputy chairman of the committee, Anton Tkachev («New People») and Deputy Chairman of the Committee Andrei Svintsov (LDPR) support the concept of the initiative.
It is necessary to legally equate SIM cards to means of payment, this will help solve the problem of gray SIM cards, says Senator Artem Sheikin, deputy chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the Federation Council.
«To date, this issue has not been discussed in our committee, but the approach of colleagues from the upper house is correct, especially the issue of responsibility. Most recently in the lower house a law was being considered to tighten liability for personal data leaks, where a mobile operator must, within its business process, strengthen security technologies,” Tkachev said.
Tkachev noted that it is necessary to work out a mechanism for determining the guilt of the operator so that this does not develop into the category of “consumer terrorism.”
«As for means of payment, this is a controversial issue, given the problems of identifying users. Today, a certain part of fraudsters use electronic SIM cards, as well as virtual numbers, which are generated quite quickly. Therefore, we will be happy to join in the elaboration of this bill,» the deputy emphasized .
Deputy Svintsov also said that such an initiative can be supported.
«Of course, we need to look at the details… but the fact that today accounts that are linked to mobile numbers are used for various schemes… this, of course, needs to be further clarified. How control measures will be carried out here,» Svintsov said.