Jail or fine for using fake identity, WhatsApp users also have to do KYC?

Although disguise is now usually the subject of stories or movie-serials, there are many people who hide their identities in reality. For this task (read doing personal work away from known circles) most of them use fake SIM cards. 

But in the future, using a fake SIM card to hide your rea

l identity for some reason, can cause quite a headache! According to a report by Economic Times (ET), the Government of India has now taken such a step that anyone who does not have an authentic SIM card can be jailed and fined up to Rs 50,000. Even if someone chats anonymously on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram, the same law will apply.

A new law has been issued

The government has issued this penal law to prevent identity concealment by using fake SIM cards or exploiting social media loopholes. According to the Centre, such legal provisions will reduce cybercrime. Note that this rule is mentioned in sub-section 4 of section 7 of the Telecom Bill; According to that clause, customers must always reveal their real identity. They can be fined up to Rs 50,000, imprisonment if necessary or both for false identification or concealment of identity. Besides, the draft bill also states that in such cases the police can arrest someone without a warrant and start investigation without a court order.

KYC is required to use WhatsApp

Meanwhile, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav also recently said that the government is taking the issue of online financial fraud seriously. He even hinted that users may have to complete KYC when using platforms like WhatsApp-Signal.

In fact, according to Vaishnav, this telecom bill will be implemented within the next 6-10 months. And all the apps that are used for calling or any kind of communication will come under the new telecom bill as this rule will apply. However, he clarified that the government will not decrypt users' messages or calls. That is, this rule will only focus on the identity of the users, there will be no impact on their personal affairs.