SIM-binding to be implemented from 1st March: What it means and how it will impact users

On 28th November, popular communication applications like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, SnapChat, ShareChat, JioChat, Arattai and Josh were formally o r dered by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ensure that their services only function when the correct Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card is in the phone. They were allotted a period of 90 days to implement the measure, which is going to end on 28th February, and the report had to be submitted in 120 days. Hence, the development will take effect on 1st March (Sunday). The guidelines were released by DoT’s AI & Digital Intelligence Unit, which has been given more power to govern Telecommunication identity User Entities (TIUEs), online services that employ a phone number as an identity. The government issued a warning that noncompliance could result in legal action under the Telecom Cyber Security Rules, the Telecommunications Act of 2023 and other relevant laws. “The SIM-binding regulation stands and we hope all service providers will come on board,” Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed during a conversation at Rising Bharat Summit 2026, referring to the move as “need of the day.” The new telecom safety standards require messaging apps to certify that, when used on different devices
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