Approximately 4 thousand gray SIM cards were seized in Russia in 2023; This figure is 18.5 times less than the previous year. In this respect reports The Izvestia publication cites data from Roskomnadzor (RKN).
Of the 4 thousand SIM cards seized in 2023, 1,200 were Megafon SIM cards, 1,000 were Tele2, 800 were Beeline and the same number were MTS SIM cards. It was stated that nearly 90 of the seized IDs belonged to other operators. The largest number of gray SIM cards (763 pieces) is in St. Seized in St. Petersburg, it ranked second with 712 units of KhMAO, and the top 3 were closed by the Krasnoyarsk Territory with 642 units. As part of the 811 activity of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and RKN, all SIM cards were confiscated in 2023.
“The Ministry issued 317 reports of administrative violations and the total amount of fines is 1.29 million rubles,” Izvestia reported.
In 2024, RKN and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have already carried out 126 joint events, during which the departments managed to confiscate 232 gray SIM cards.
The existence of the gray SIM card market in Russia is due to two factors, the publication writes. First of all, there is demand for such identifiers from people who want to remain anonymous for various reasons. Secondly, telecom market participants are fictitiously increasing their efficiency in reports by introducing gray SIM cards.
Previous experts assumedFrom April 1, 2024, the price of equipment in Russia may increase by 20%.