The central government is toying with the idea of imposing heavy penalties on telecom operators who issue SIM cards without proper verification and will also soon make it mandatory to have passwords for Wi-Fi connections.
Home Ministry sources said all telecom operators in the country had been asked not to issue SIM cards without verification or in bulk.
The move has been taken after investigations into the recent serial blasts in the country pointed out that the terrorists had bought SIM cards by giving false or at times no information, they said.
"We came across an incident when a person had bought over 100 SIM cards in bulk. Such incidents would not be entertained at all," Home Ministry official said.
"The government will not shy away from imposing heavy penalties on telecom operators who compromise on national security," he said.
The steps are also been taken to ensure that all Wi-Fi connections come with a password so that a third party cannot misuse an unsafe connection.
Incidentally, Wi-Fi connections sans passwords used by unsuspecting citizens were hacked by terrorists to send mails minutes before the serial blasts in Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
More from rediff