Mobifone, Vietnamobile, Viettel and Vinaphone have each received a VND90 million ($3876) fine for registering new customers using false information.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications issued the penalties following an audit carried out between October and November 2019.
To register a SIM, users must provide their full name, date of birth and national ID number. Across a sample of 6900 SIMs requisitioned during the audit, the ministry found that all four operators had signed up new subscribers using registration details supplied by existing customers.
According to local news outlet Tuoi Tre News, the falsely registered SIMs were typically used to sign up tourists unfamiliar with the registration process. Retailers that enabled this scheme also received penalties.
