Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla has expressed concern that telecommunications companies are not providing full call record information from prisons. He made the statement while responding to questions in a letter to the Parliament of the Maldives.
In the letter, Minister Imran said the Maldives Police Service (MPS) is working the Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) to stop inmates at Maafushi Prison from making scam calls. He noted that an antenna was placed in the area to collect information and distinguish between the phone numbers being used by residents and prisoners.
Additionally, Minister Imran said authorities have blocked 431 numbers, blacklisted 365 International Mobile Equipment Identities (IMEI), and blocked 10 IPs and 12 websites in Maafushi Prison. He also said that prison officials isolate and search jail cells when prisoners who are caught using phones.
However, Minister Imran said that the call record information are collected by the telecommunications companies Dhiraagu and Ooredoo, which are not providing the full data. He also addressed other challenges such as the data being maintained using different formats. As such, he highlighted the importance of formulating regulations to compel telecommunications companies to provide such information to the MPS as part of the efforts to stop scam calls.
Furthermore, Minister Imran raised concerns over telecommunications companies delaying the suspension of phone numbers, providing multiple SIM cards to one person, assigning mobile phone numbers to one person, and registering multiple SIM cards under passport numbers of foreigners. He called on the Communications Authority of the Maldives (CAM) to formulate policies to make telecommunications companies more responsible.