Roskomnadzor is causing subscribers to become anxious.
Russian mobile operators have initiated a process requiring users to verify their personal information either by visiting a mobile phone retail store or logging into their personal Gosuslugi account since the beginning of April. This measure is believed to have been prompted by the impending Roskomnadzor inspections in May of this year, which are aimed at curbing gray SIM-cards.
Up to 20 million active customers with unverified data are estimated to be affected by the market, according to operators. Disconnection of such a large number of SIM cards could cost businesses up to 7 billion rubles a month in lost revenue.
Roskomnadzor is keeping an eye on the accuracy of subscriber data that carriers save in databases to comply with regulatory mandates to combat unauthorized SIM cards. An information system that automatically detects unreliable data about the operators’ clients has been created for this purpose. Operators must either clarify or stop offering services to a subscriber if discrepancies in their information are noticed. Since 2018, over 423 thousand gray SIM cards have been removed as part of cooperative projects with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with 152 thousand being removed in 2022.
It should be noted that both corporations and sole proprietors are subject to the Roskomnadzor monitoring system.
MTS, MegaFon, VimpelCom, and Tele2 have affirmed that they adhere to legal obligations responsibly and conduct routine procedures to verify subscriber data, which may become outdated over time.