The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has proposed a new verification system aimed at making SIM issuance easier for users who face difficulties with fingerprint based biometric verification, a group that includes many senior citizens and laborers whose fingerprints often fail to register properly during the SIM registration process. PTA submitted a written report to the government and Parliament outlining its progress toward developing a secure alternative to fingerprint verification for SIM issuance going forward.
According to the report, the authority has made considerable progress in identifying a permanent alternative method, settling on facial verification carried out through NADRA’s Pak ID app as the proposed solution. PTA said the app can offer a secure and reliable way to authenticate customers during the SIM issuance process, and has formally requested NADRA to allow both fingerprint and facial biometric verification to be used through the platform. The authority has recommended that NADRA formally approve use of the app for this purpose, after which telecom companies would be able to issue SIMs using the system at customer service centers and franchise outlets nationwide.
The report also disclosed that 70,871 SIMs have been issued through an alternative verification mechanism between January 2025 and the present, covering customers whose fingerprint verification had failed during the standard registration process. These users were verified instead through NADRA issued letters or medical certificates, a workaround PTA said has provided relief to thousands of people otherwise unable to complete biometric verification through the usual method. PTA also confirmed that successful trials of facial verification for SIM issuance have already been completed in collaboration with NADRA and mobile network operators, with a proof of concept for facial verification through the Pak ID app also completed successfully. Mobile operators, according to the authority, have already finished the technical preparations required to begin issuing SIMs through facial verification once formal approval is granted.
PTA said discussions are also underway to explore allowing SIM issuance directly through mobile operators’ own applications in the future, though all fingerprint and facial verification would continue to run through NADRA’s authentication system regardless of which channel is used. The proposed system is expected to make SIM issuance more accessible for users who have historically struggled with biometric verification, while maintaining the security checks associated with official identity verification through NADRA.
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