Rules regarding selling and buying of SIM cards become stricter, coming into effect from December 1

There is going to be a change regarding the rules of selling and buying SIMs. The new change is going to be implemented from next month i.e. 1st December. According to the new rules, verification of dealers selling SIMs will now be a mandatory condition. It will also be necessary for dealers to get registered to sell new SIMs.

In fact, in the month of September itself, DoT issued two circulars cracking down on those selling fake SIM cards. In these circulars, changes have been made regarding the rules for selling and using SIM cards in India.

• According to the new rules, it is being made mandatory for telecom companies to do KYC of the shops selling their SIM cards. If telecom companies do not do this, they may have to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh for each shop.
• According to the new rules, SIM cards will not be issued in bulk. The number will be given to someone else only after 90 days of closure of the SIM card. SIM cards can be purchased in bulk only through commercial connections.
• Customers purchasing SIM cards for existing numbers will be required to undergo Aadhaar scanning to purchase a new SIM. In addition, demographic data collection will be necessary.

Earlier these rules were being implemented from October 1.

According to the rules, 9 SIM cards can be used with one Aadhar card. However, in north-eastern states including Jammu Kashmir, and Assam, only 6 SIM cards can be used with one Aadhar card.