Russia’s Digital Development Ministry is considering lifting the moratorium on scheduled inspections of telecommunications operators, the Russian business outlet RBC reported, citing two sources.
The moratorium prevents authorities from verifying whether operators have installed lawful interception systems, known by the Russian acronym SORM, the sources said. “This should put a stop to the practice where an operator sets up a new legal entity, operates without SORM for several years, then shuts it down and opens a new one, repeating the scheme,” one source said.
The current moratorium, established in 2023, bans scheduled business inspections through 2030, RBC noted.
The ministry is also pushing a requirement that operators connect SORM before beginning operations, meaning they could not work even on a valid license without it. Under current rules, an operator must file an application with Russia’s Federal Security Service within 45 days of receiving a license, then has three months to develop an operational plan, with full implementation taking another year and a half to two years, RBC noted.
The day before, the newspaper Izvestia reported that the Digital Development Ministry is discussing tighter requirements for telecom operators with industry participants. Among other proposals, the ministry is considering introducing three tiers of licenses, with fees ranging from one million to 50 million rubles, and banning sole proprietors from obtaining telecom licenses.
In late March, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev held two private meetings: one with the country’s four major mobile operators, who were directed to disable the option of topping up Apple Account balances from a mobile account, and another with major online platforms, which were told to block users accessing their sites via VPN. Shadayev said the Digital Development Ministry had been tasked with reducing VPN use in Russia, but called introducing administrative liability for it a “difficult compromise.”
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