Govt Pushes SIM-Binding Compliance Deadline to December 31

The industry has pushed back against the deadline for compliance with SIM-binding rules, but the Centre has apparently extended it to December 31. In response to industry representatives' requests, the government has postponed the implementation deadline of the SIM-binding rule until December 31.

By December 2025, the regulations put forth by the DoT mandated that all messaging applications, including WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, must be permanently associated with a user's SIM card. It also requires users to log out of these apps every six hours, whether they're on the web or a desktop computer. DoT has now made it such that users do not need to log out of these apps' web versions after six hours.

DOT Enhancing Cyber Security

Concerns about cybersecurity vulnerabilities presented by devices not bound to SIM cards were raised by the DoT in its notification to digital intermediaries. Additionally, it was pointed out that these devices could be utilised for telecom-related cyber fraud by individuals outside the country. This order is a result of the Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025, which broadened the telecom regulator's jurisdiction to encompass social media and messaging apps that use mobile phone numbers to identify their users.

The guidelines were established in December 2025, and they state that platforms must restrict customers to using only the SIM card that was used for registration on their devices. Platforms were given strict deadlines: February 26 to perform the necessary technical adjustments and March 28 to submit compliance reports.

Intermediaries Raised Concerns

The digital gatekeepers are strongly opposed to these plans. Many in the industry are concerned that consumers who use messaging systems on several devices or who are travelling internationally would have their legitimate usage disrupted by stringent enforcement. An earlier argument put forward by the Broadband India Forum indicated that the regulation would cause problems with the right to equality and surpass the Department of Telecommunications' legislative authority.

Additionally, it proposed alternate methods to guarantee conformity. More stringent SIM-KYC enforcement and improved cooperation between financial institutions, law enforcement, and cellphone providers are examples of compliance measures.