Egypt’s telecom regulator referred the country’s four mobile operators to criminal prosecutors Monday after a surge of citizens discovered phone lines registered under their personal identity documents without their knowledge or consent.
The referral of Vodafone, Orange, e&, and WE to the Public Prosecution targets widespread identity misuse that threatens to expose citizens to wrongful legal liability.
With Egypt’s upcoming Criminal Procedure Law relying on national ID numbers and registered phone numbers to deliver official judicial notifications, falsely linked SIM cards put citizens at risk of severe legal consequences for actions they never committed.
To curb the threat, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) immediately suspended the sale and activation of corporate business lines used by private and public institutions, which it identified as the main source of unauthorized registrations.
The regulator also directed operators to accelerate the deployment of biometric tools, including facial recognition and electronic fingerprinting, through their mobile applications so citizens can verify their identities and immediately flag or disown unauthorized lines.
Under new rules approved during an emergency meeting with company executives, operators must resolve all disputed accounts through mandatory re-registration or cancellation.
Mobile providers must text users of older registered lines, requiring them to visit a branch and sign new contracts under their own names or face automatic disconnection once specified deadlines pass.
The NTRA said its criminal referral followed two days of intensive inspections and reviews of user complaints. Regulator officials compiled documents and evidence for state investigators, warning that non-compliant operators face permanent bans on selling new SIM cards, while corporate executives and officials face criminal prosecution.
The scandal erupted last Thursday after the NTRA restored the “My Numbers” feature on its official mobile application using a temporary technical fix that masks middle digits of phone numbers until updates are completed.
The tool allowed citizens to review accounts tied to their national IDs, revealing thousands of unauthorized SIM cards across all four networks and sparking public outrage over data rights and security.
