URGENT: Egypt’s NTRA refers four mobile operators to prosecution over line registrations
The regulator suspends corporate sales channels, orders biometric checks after complaints
Egypt’s telecom regulator has referred the country’s four mobile network operators to the Public Prosecution over complaints that lines were registered in customers’ names without their knowledge, the authority said on Monday.
The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said it had investigated complaints from users who discovered mobile lines registered in their names that they did not own or possess.
The referrals followed inspections and investigations carried out over the past two days, during which the regulator collected evidence, documents, and other material related to the complaints, it said.
The NTRA did not identify the operators or disclose how many mobile lines were affected.
Following meetings with the four companies, the regulator ordered a series of urgent measures to tighten the registration of mobile lines and verify the identities of users.
The operators were ordered to suspend the sale and activation of new mobile lines through corporate systems used by private companies and government entities.
They must also send text messages to existing lines registered through those systems, instructing users to visit operator branches and sign new contracts in the name of the actual user.
Lines that are not regularised within the specified deadline will be permanently cancelled, the NTRA said.
The regulator also ordered operators to accelerate the rollout of biometric identity verification through their mobile applications, allowing users to verify their identities and identify lines registered in their names that they do not possess.
Companies that fail to comply with the NTRA’s rules could face administrative and legal penalties, including suspension of new-line sales and activation and referral to the Public Prosecution, the authority said.
The measures are aimed at protecting users’ personal data and tightening controls over the sale, registration and activation of mobile lines, the NTRA said.