The trade in illegal mobile SIM cards by hawkers continues at markets in the city despite a clampdown by the authorities, Arab News has found.

Most people using these cards are illegal workers, the newspaper discovered in a tour of markets on Palestine Street.

Some traders are exploiting certain loopholes in the regulations to obtain the cards and then selling them illegally. Some shop owners selling mobile phones are also complicit because they want to make sure that their customers get SIM cards without any hassle. The presence of large numbers of illegal workers has made this a profitable business for hawkers.

“We have no idea how and where these cards are sold with false or illegal IDs, even though the cards were originally issued by mobile companies in the country. We buy them from salesmen and never ask how they get the cards,” Ali Salim, a card seller, told Arab News.

He said these salesmen provide the cards with unknown ID numbers and other required information. If a customer has difficulty recharging the card later, the hawkers declare that they are not responsible, he said.

The regulations of Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications authority, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), stipulate that only legal residents can buy these SIMs by producing their residence permits.

Another hawker selling illegal SIM cards, Fahd Khaled, claimed he bought the cards from salesmen working for telecommunication companies at bargain prices.

He said some cards are disconnected after initial use, while others could be used for years without any hassle.

“Mostly people buying these cards are illegal foreign workers because they are not eligible to buy legal SIM cards,” said Hani Yafie, another seller.

Anwar Ali, another illegal seller, said cards with price tags ranging from SR300 to SR1,500 have special numbers, while those with ordinary numbers cost between SR50 and SR150.

Sabir Ahmed, a seller of legitimate SIM cards, said the hawkers of these illegal cards are stealing customers from legitimate operators and urged the authorities to arrest them.

“These illegal practices are taking place because the authorities have been lax in taking action,” said Bassam Al-Ghashmari, another legitimate salesman.

He said service providers are also to blame because they are not monitoring the sale of their cards. Nawaf Al-Bouq, spokesman of the Jeddah Police, said committees comprising the police, the CITC and related departments have beefed up inspections and have arrested several violators.

“Illegal sellers of SIM cards with unknown sources are punished.” He urged the public not to deal with such violators.