By Abdul Ghani

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has enhanced safeguards to protect 9.3 million Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) beneficiaries from fraudulent SIM issuance and financial scams.

According to a document available with Wealth Pakistan, SIM sales to BISP beneficiaries have been restricted to Customer Service Centres (CSCs) and authorized franchises, minimizing the risk of  exploitation by unauthorized sellers.

The measure is particularly significant as BISP moves towards greater use of digital payment mechanisms. The programme has been developing digital wallets to provide beneficiaries with safer and more direct access to financial assistance.

The PTA has also introduced a series of technological safeguards across the SIM-registration ecosystem. These include enhanced Multi-Finger Biometric Verification, live-finger detection, geofencing of SIM-sale devices and tighter controls on authorized users of biometric devices.

The regulator's Automated Biometric Monitoring System is being used to identify suspicious patterns and support action against illegal SIM operations.

The measures come as Pakistan expands digital financial access for BISP beneficiaries. The government's Social Protection Wallet initiative is designed to make payments more secure, transparent, and convenient, while reducing dependence on intermediaries.

The PTA brief states that the enhanced controls are intended to ensure that beneficiaries can access mobile connectivity and financial services without becoming victims of identity theft, unauthorized SIM issuance or fraud.

The regulator is also preparing further measures, including facial verification, centralized blacklisting of problematic SIM-sale channels, and stronger procedures for duplicate SIM issuance.

The developments represent an important alignment between telecom regulation and social protection policy, reinforcing digital safeguards for one of Pakistan's largest welfare programmes.

Credit: INP-WealthPk