Government considers tightening real-name registration for phone cards, with fraudulent registration set to become a criminal offence

The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau is preparing an amendment bill to criminalise the improper use of another person's name to register a phone SIM card without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau, in a written reply to a Legislative Council member's question, said the government was conducting a comprehensive review of the real-name registration system for phone SIM cards and formulating targeted enhancement measures, including lowering the cap on the number of prepaid SIM cards that individual users may register, and would consult the public in due course.