Government Directs Telcos To Ensure Customers Do Not Exceed The 9-SIM Limit
New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed the telecom companies to strictly enforce the rule of not issuing a new mobile phone connection to any subscriber already having nine SIMs, an official statement said on Thursday. "From August 24, 2026, onward, TSPs (telecom service providers) shall take appropriate technical and organisational measures to identify each subscriber…
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has instructed telecom companies to strictly adhere to the rule prohibiting the issuance of a new mobile phone connection to any subscriber who already possesses nine SIMs, according to an official statement on Thursday. As of August 24, 2026, telecom service providers (TSPs) are required to implement technical and organizational measures to detect any subscriber attempting to acquire more mobile connections than the permitted limit, informing them that they have reached the maximum number of allowed mobile connections and therefore cannot receive additional ones.
The circular emphasizes that customers must declare the mobile connections held in their name across telecom operators and licensed service areas on the Customer Application Form (CAF). The DoT indicated that the Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) will be responsible for resolving any disputes arising from the implementation of these instructions.
The DoT's Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) contains records of subscribers who have exceeded the prescribed limit, and a representative image of each such subscriber's photo will be available on the DIP starting August 23. The DIP uses subscriber information submitted by various telecom companies to enable telcos to identify subscribers who have reached the upper limit of nine SIM cards.
Until such measures are enacted retroactively, any mobile connection activated beyond the permitted limit will be suspended until the issue is resolved, as per the Customer Application Form (CAF) terms and conditions. Existing instructions issued on August 9, 2012, allowed individual customers to have a maximum of nine mobile connections across all telecom service providers and licensed service areas nationwide; however, the limit is lower in certain regions, such as Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, and the North-East, where subscribers can have a maximum of six mobile connections. The government aims to strictly enforce this upper limit.
Written by urgent.news from Free Press Journal's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
