FCC Delays SIM Swap Deadline

2406270028). The bureau found that delay of the rules until March 10, as the groups asked, “would not serve the public interest,” a Friday order said. But the bureau said the requirement won’t kick in until OMB completes its review of the information collection requirements in the rules and the FCC publishes a notice in the Federal Register announcing the compliance date. “This will effectively result in a single synchronized timeframe,” the order said. The review is expected to be completed no earlier than November, the order said. The FCC “gave the industry a half a loaf, which is better than giving them the whole loaf,” Margot Saunders, senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center, told us. Saunders said “it’s too bad” the requirements aren’t already in place. “SIM swap and port out frauds cause devastating losses to consumers, especially to low-income consumers who are using prepaid phones, which are more vulnerable,” she said: Consumers often don’t “have the means to launch expensive litigation to recoup their funds. The new regulations impose relatively modest requirements -- which do not seem to be overly complex, or need radical new systems to be developed.” The commission "is not unaware of the complexities of implementing the requirements,” but “we do not find the complexities outlined by Petitioners persuasive to overcome the Commission’s stated concerns regarding the urgency of addressing these types of pernicious fraudulent schemes,” the order said.