The Union Department of Telecommunications has taken a major decision to check rising cyber crimes, fraudulent phishing calls and international-scale digital arrest scams. The department is tightening “SIM-binding” norms to rein in messaging apps that operate through Wi-Fi or secondary internet connections without a registered SIM card in the phone. The new rules will come into effect on January 1, 2027, and messaging platforms have been given until December 31, 2026 to make the necessary changes to their systems.
Once the rule comes into force, users who remove the SIM card linked to their messaging account from the phone, deactivate it or move it to another phone will immediately lose access to their WhatsApp and Telegram accounts. Every messaging app that works with Indian mobile numbers will be required to verify whether the user’s device has an active physical SIM or eSIM carrying the registered number.
The primary reason behind the strict measure is the cyber attacks originating from abroad. Fraudsters purchase SIM cards in India using fake identities and activate WhatsApp and Telegram accounts on them. They then discard the SIM cards and use the same accounts from overseas to deceive Indian citizens, committing digital fraud worth crores of rupees. With SIM-binding in place, an account will not function without an active SIM, which is expected to be a major check on cross-border cyber crime.
The change is likely to cause difficulty mainly for users who keep the SIM in one phone and use WhatsApp on a secondary phone or tablet, as well as those who remove the SIM after completing account setup. Dual-SIM users will also need to ensure that the SIM linked to their messaging account remains active at all times.
Officials, however, clarified that claims that these apps will stop working on iPhone or Android devices are untrue. They said this is purely a SIM-related rule, and the services will continue without any hindrance on devices with a physical SIM or an eSIM with an active profile.