Deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching said the proposal is part of a public consultation on new SIM registration guidelines, which also suggest restricting foreign nationals to two prepaid numbers in total, regardless of the service provider.

She said the consultations are expected to conclude by the end of November, with the new rules taking effect in the first quarter of next year.

“By tightening these guidelines, we hope to reduce the misuse of prepaid SIM cards, which are often used to create social media accounts for scams, spreading false information or issuing threats,” Bernama quoted her as saying in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She was responding to a question from Sungai Petani MP Dr Taufiq Johari, who asked about government measures to develop ethical AI policies and enhance MCMC’s digital forensic capabilities.

Teo said the current guidelines, introduced in 2017, allow individuals to register up to five prepaid numbers per telco.

“This means a person can have five numbers each from Maxis, Celcom, Digi, U Mobile and YTL. This is quite a large number for one individual,” she said.