Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said the government will reduce the number of mobile SIM cards allowed per person before the upcoming national election.
Currently, a subscriber can use up to 10 SIM cards under a single National Identity Card (NID). The limit will be brought down to between five and seven before the election, with a long-term plan to reduce it further to two, the adviser said today (26 October) after the 15th meeting of the Law and Order Advisory Council Committee, held at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"Today, a decision was made by all concerned to reduce the number of SIMs that can be used at the personal level. The ICT Adviser was invited to the meeting for this purpose," he said.
Explaining the move, Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said, "You know that mobile SIMs are often misused. A SIM may be registered in one person's name but used by another, sometimes without the original holder's knowledge. This decision has been taken to prevent such misuse. In addition, steps will be taken to stop anyone from creating instability through social media."
The limit, previously set at fifteen, was reduced to 10 by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in July.