Don't Want To Buy An Active SIM Card, The Government Forbids It Because It's Prone To Piracy

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) prohibits the sale and circulation of active SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards.

Director General of Post and Information Technology at the Ministry of Communications and Informatics Ahmad M. Ramli said this step was taken to prevent illegal circulation or use of identity without rights and incorrectly.

For this reason, his party is now aggressively urging cellular telecommunications service operators and SIM card sellers to comply with the Minister of Communication and Informatics Regulation Number 5 of 2021 concerning Telecommunications Operations.

"I always emphasize that in accordance with PM 5/2021, both operators and their entire staff up to the level of prepaid card sellers comply with this by registering correctly, and then there will be no more stories of selling SIM cards when they are active," he said. in the official release quoted on Saturday, July 10.

According to Ahmad, the policies made are not without purpose, because currently users of cellular telecommunications services also tend to increase.

“It often happens that it is also used for fraud, crime and others. This is where the essence of the importance of consistent prepaid registration is to improve digital security, especially in transactions,” he said.

For information, the Ministry of Communication and Information noted that currently Indonesia has 345.3 million active SIM card users who are vulnerable to crime if the government does not make strategic efforts to protect its citizens.

Meanwhile, active users of social media in the country now reach 170 million people. Of these, the average use over the top and various digital applications for daily life.

"Although there are still those who deliberately use it to commit crimes," he said.

For information, in the Regulation of the Minister of Communication and Informatics Number 5 of 2021 Article 153 paragraph (5) it is stated that telecommunications service providers are required to circulate Prime Cards in an inactive state for all telecommunications services.

Furthermore, in paragraph (6), circulation in an inactive condition must also be carried out by everyone who sells starter packs, namely distributors, agents, outlets, pelapak, and/or individuals.

"Let's together promote sales of prepaid cards that are completely zero and empty, there is no data yet. So, those who register actually use their own names," concluded Ahmad.