Tajik law enforcement authorities propose to introduce criminal liability for illegal sale of SIM cards to persons who has committed a crime or plan to commit a crime.

A joint meeting of representatives of the Interior Ministry, the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), the Communications Service and mobile operators took place in Dushanbe on May 2 to discuss issues related to regulation of sale and reregistration of SIM cards, according to the Interior Ministry’s website.

The meeting participants reportedly decided to impose administrative action upon persons violating the procedure of sale and use of SIM cards.  Meanwhile, criminal proceedings will be instituted against persons illegally selling or handing over SIM cards to persons suspected of committing a crime.

Appropriate amendments proposed to the country’s legislation will be submitted for consideration to the government within the next few days.   

Recall, the process to reregister all existing SIM cards began in Tajikistan on November 1, 2016.

The government passed a resolution requiring all mobile operators in Tajikistan to reregister all SIM cards already in circulation by April 30, 2017.   

SIM card owners were to bring their passport or other official I.D. documentation and their SIM cards to one of their service centers to register their identity in compliance with a government order.

Fears of terrorism reportedly prompted new communications laws in Tajikistan.

In December 2015, Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament endorsed amendments to the country’s communications law that require mobile carriers to register all SIM cards sold, and reregister those already in circulation.

Speaking at the session, Mansourjon Umarov, first deputy head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), noted on December 2, 2015 that more than 70 percent of active SIM cards had been sold out without producing identification.

“We have information that Taliban militants deployed in areas bordering Tajikistan are actively using Tajik SIM cards,” Umarov said.

In late November 2015, Tajik lawmakers passed legislation allowing the authorities to block the Internet and telephone system during “counterterrorism operations” in the country.