MANILA — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has ordered the country's telecommunications companies to submit incident reports on anomalies regarding their SIM card registration processes.

In a memorandum issued Tuesday, the NTC said the order was in response to "numerous incidents involving unsuccessful or incomplete SIM registration from the general public."

The commission also noted several initial social media reports from users that complained of registration sites being down or inaccessible.

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The NTC also told telcos to file reports on these incidents, including the platform involved, number of subscribers affected, geographical areas, and actions taken to address these issues, "as well as actions to mitigate or eliminate future incidents."

Telcos are required to submit the reports to the NTC within Wednesday, Dec. 28, its memo further read.

NTC Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan told ABS-CBN TeleRadyo on Wednesday that they have since received initial reports.

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Salvahan also cited a report from Globe Telecom saying that it has about 20,000 registered subscribers on the first day of SIM card registration on Tuesday.

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"Slowly, ine-enhance na po sila ng system nila, nag-request po sila ng period of 72 hours para po fully ma-enhance at ma-improve iyong system of registration nila on the part of Globe," he also said.

SELFIES

Salvahan also addressed concerns on the use of selfies for the SIM card registration, saying that it was an added verification measure.

He noted that during the public consultations on the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the SIM Card Registration Act, there were concerns on how to ensure the identity of subscribers using their SIM cards.

"Isa po sa mga napag-usapan diyan ay ang paglalagay ng selfie para magkaroon tayo ng post-verification process para po ma-verify natin [ang mga subscriber]," he said.

Salvahan added that some telcos will also be rolling out assisted registration in their stores, especially for subscribers who are not familiar with using their online registration platforms.

The NTC will also be setting up a task force to closely monitor updates on SIM card registrations, especially in the nation's hinterland areas.

For her part, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Spokesperson Anna Mae Lamentillo also said that the selfie requirement for registration was in compliance of the law.

"Iyong bagong batas marami pong pinapataw na parusa... Marami po kasing magta-try na baluktutin ang sistema, magsa-submit ng fake ID at pekeng pangalan. Pero ngayon pa lang po, binabalaan na po natin ang ating mga kababayan na sana po maging tapat na lang po kung ano na ginagamit nila na SIM card at kung ano po iyong kanilang information," she said in a separate interview on ABS-CBN TeleRadyo.

The DICT has also set up a 24/7 hotline—1326—for SIM card registration complaints and concerns.