DPR Supports Facial Biometric SIM Registration to Curb Digital Fraud

DPR Commission I member Yudha Novanza Utama supports the Ministry of Communications and Digital’s (Komdigi) policy requiring biometric registration for mobile subscribers from 1 July 2026. The policy is viewed as a concrete step by the government to bolster national digital security amid increasing cybercrime threats.

According to Yudha, digital technology advancements must be accompanied by stronger identity security systems to protect citizens from various forms of data and identity misuse.

“Komdigi’s move deserves praise for demonstrating the government’s commitment to strengthening digital citizen protection. Technological advancements must be matched with increasingly robust identity security systems,” Yudha said in Jakarta on Monday, 1 June 2026.

He views the implementation of biometric registration as a sign of the government’s seriousness in building a safer, more trustworthy digital ecosystem that can adapt to evolving technology and increasingly complex digital crime patterns.

Biometric Registration Seen as Effective Against Cybercrime

Yudha explained that facial verification-based biometric registration could minimise the use of fake identities in mobile number registration.

According to him, many digital crimes currently exploit weak user identity validation.

With biometric systems, the government can narrow the scope for digital criminals who often use anonymous mobile numbers or fake data to carry out their activities.

He listed several digital crimes that the system could curb, including:

• Online fraud

• Phishing

• Spam calls

• OTP abuse

• Fake identity use

“With such strengthened verification systems, Indonesia’s digital space is expected to become safer and identity misuse reduced,” he said.

Phishing and OTP Abuse Highlighted

In his statement, Yudha also highlighted the growing prevalence of phishing cases targeting the public.

Phishing is a digital fraud technique that tricks victims into voluntarily providing sensitive data such as passwords, PINs, and OTP codes.

OTP, or One-Time Password, is a single-use security code typically consisting of four to six unique digits. These codes are usually sent via SMS, email, or authentication apps and are valid for a short period.