The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is looking at limiting the number of SIMs (subscriber identity modules) a person can register to fight scams. 

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said the SIMs used in these scams were either pre-registered or ones that had been fraudulently registered.

“Other countries have implemented a limitation on the number of SIM cards that can be registered, so that’s one option that we’re looking at,” Uy said.

“Some countries limit [it] to five. Tatlo lang naman ang telcos natin eh, so maybe we can limit it to three so you can have one number each, or to four in case you want, some of them one telco pero dalawa ‘yung product nila,” he added.

Since December 2022, Filipinos have been required to register their SIMs in compliance with Republic Act 11934, which seeks to provide law enforcement agencies with the necessary tools to deter crimes committed using SIMs.

Nearly 119 million SIMs had already been registered as of September 3, 2023, according to the National Telecommunications Commission.