No WhatsApp without active SIM: Centre issues new rules to prevent cyber crimes

Published on: Nov 30, 2025 03:49 pm IST The government has already notified the Telecom Cyber Security Rules in 2024 and updated them again in 2025. The new SIM-binding rules will rewrite how Indians use their messaging apps. People will now no longer be able to run apps like WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal on a device without the active SIM card inside it. (FILES) This illustration photograph taken on April 11, 2023(AFP) That means no more using WhatsApp on a phone with a different SIM, no more shifting between devices freely, and far more frequent logouts on web versions of these messaging applications. The notification, issued on November 28, 2025, has come into force with immediate effect. Which issue is being addressed? “It has come to the notice of Central Government that some of the App Based Communication Services that are utilizing Mobile Number for identification of its customers/users or for provisioning or delivery of services, allows users to consume their services without availability of the underlying Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) within the device in which App Based Communication Services is running and this feature is posing challenge,” the document reads. The government has already notified the Telecom Cyber Security
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